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The Earth Story

@earthstory / earthstory.tumblr.com

This is the blog homepage of the Facebook group "The Earth Story" (Click here to visit our Facebook group). “The Earth Story” are group of volunteers with backgrounds throughout the Earth Sciences. We cover all Earth sciences - oceanography, climatology, geology, geophysics and much, much more. Our articles combine the latest research, stunning photography, and basic knowledge of geosciences, and are written for everyone!
We hope you find us to be a unique home for learning about the Earth sciences, and we hope you enjoy!
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International Dark Skies Park – Galloway Forest Park, Scotland

The UK’s largest Forest Park, Galloway Forest Park, has over 75,000 hectares of land, few buildings that need lighting, and relatively few neighbors. In 2009, it became the first Dark Sky Parks in the UK after Scotland’s Forestry Commission turned in a 100-page application. They had to state Galloway’s case for becoming a DSP, prove that the night sky meets the conditions for certification, commit to providing educational programming on astronomy and light pollution, prove they have support from local government and nearby private property owners (including the villages of Dumfries & Galloway), and provide a management plan to prevent light pollution long-term both within and near the park.

Not only was Galloway approved, it was certified as Gold tier. This means that the full array of visible sky phenomena can be viewed—e.g. aurora, airglow, Milky Way, zodiacal light, and faint meteors. The designation has allowed Galloway to promote itself as a tourist destination for anyone interested in seeing an exceptional night sky.

  • RE

Photo Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/laurienevay/42807116435

References: http://bit.ly/1uuapE5 http://bit.ly/1IDMFVV http://bit.ly/1DcS7tb

Source: facebook.com
#Galloway Forest Park#ida#international dark sky association#dark sky park#night sky#dark sky#uk#scotland#geology#the earth story
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Video introduces one of my favorite short filmmakers -  Harun Mehmedinovic, of the Skyglow Project. Original caption:

Harun Mehmedinovic is perhaps more familiar with the country’s dark skies than just about anyone. After establishing himself as an award-winning filmmaker and photographer in Los Angeles, Mehmedinovic now splits his time between L.A. and Flagstaff. But he’s best known for his Skyglow project, a light-pollution awareness campaign highlighting the importance of dark skies and featuring Arizona’s incredible views of the cosmos.
#Harun Mehmedinovic#arizona#night sky#dark sky#skyglow#astrophotography#video#timelapse#international dark sky association#the wave#desert#utah#light pollution#the earth story#vimeo
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We’re now at the end of International Dark Sky Week rather than the beginning, but a good message from this caption:

To mark the start of International Dark Sky Week I am thrilled to announce my second Love Letter film “A Love Letter to the Night Sky.” This new film was created as my way of saying thank you to all of the areas of this country where we can still see the stars above, and to share the feeling I have while I sit out under the night sky while capturing its beauty. Once the sun goes down that's my time to shoot - from moon rises and moon sets to the movement of the stars and planets as our earth rotates.
Ever since falling in love with night-sky photography I have seen a remarkable change in the types of locations that I feel connected to. I was recently out in Las Vegas leading workshops and sessions at a conference. I love educating others, but once my sessions were over I couldn't wait to get out of Vegas. The congestion, noise and light pollution made me feel as if I was being trampled by people, noise, and flashing lights. I couldn’t think and it felt suffocating and stressful. I was surprised at how it affected me since I used to be a person that enjoyed that experience. I have been to Las Vegas well over 40 times in my lifetime and I used to think that it energized me. That is how profound the change has been for me ever since discovering the night sky. 4 years ago I created my first "Love Letter" film titled "Love Letter to Moab" to show my appreciation for the beautiful landscapes and dark skies of Moab, Utah - an amazing location that is now my home away from home while teaching my spring night-sky workshops. This May will mark my 6th year teaching in this beautiful location. During the past six years I have also expanded outward to lead workshops in other dark-sky locations including Death Valley, Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, Kanab, Bryce Canyon, and the Wind River area of Wyoming. And I will continue expanding locations in order to showcase the beauty of this country when combined with the light from the night sky.
As a photographer and educator it is a privilege for me to be able to put together a remarkable night sky experience for photographers from all over the world, and to watch them as they continue capturing the night sky long after the workshop has ended. Many of these photographers come back annually in order to rekindle that connection with our night skies, and that in itself is success for me.
I hope others will join me at one of my upcoming dark-sky photography & time lapse workshops for an educational experience they will never forget. These workshops are a place where you'll learn to capture and create breathtaking time lapse films, while connecting to the night sky and to other photographers who share the same passion for astrophotography and time lapse. You can get more information at TimelapseWorkshops.com
As part of International Dark Sky Week I hope you'll share this film on your social media and with your city officials and let’s try to find a way to turn off city lights for an hour or two, once or twice a year, in order to give those that live in the city a chance to view the beauty of our galaxy. It would be an amazing opportunity for everyone to see what they're missing.
I will also pledge to fly out to the first major metropolitan city that finds a way to turn off their lights for at least an hour during a summer night, and to create a film marking this special event. Let’s help our cities light up under the glow of our night skies.
I also recommend checking out darksky.org, which is the website for the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA). The IDA was launched in 2008 to help cities and towns preserve and protect the nighttime environment as well as our heritage of dark skies through environmentally responsible outdoor lighting. The IDA works with the public, city planners, legislators, lighting manufacturers, parks, and protected areas to provide and implement smart lighting choices.  darksky.org.
About the author
Ron Risman is a photographer, cinematographer, timelapse specialist, and founder of TimelapseWorkshops.com.
#Night sky#dark sky#video#utah#geology#mountains#international dark sky association#international dark sky week#timelapse#arches#moab#national park#death valley#grand canyon#bryce canyon#light pollution#the earth story#milky way
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·      theartofnight It's currently International Dark Sky Week, and it's a worldwide event which brings attention to the problems associated with light pollution and promotes simple solutions available to mitigate it. I produced this video in and around @wellington_newzealand a few years ago to bring attention to the issue, and show off the night skies without the effect of too much light pollution. As the tag line of the video say - Life without dark skies - you don't know what you're missing... If you'd like more information on International Dark Sky Week, and the effects of light pollution and what can be done to combat it, go check out the @idadarksky web page. And if you’d like to see the full length version of this short film, check out the link in my bio.
#International dark sky week#International dark sky association#night sky#dark sky#video#instagram#the earth story#milky way#new zealand
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The newest clip from the Skyglow Project, Original caption:

In honor of the International Dark-Sky Association's Dark Sky Week, which will take place on April 15-21, WWW.SKYGLOWPROJECT.COM is releasing SKYGLOW NYC, an experimental timelapse which imagines how the skies above New York City would look without light pollution. Inspired by the "Darkened Cities" stills project by Thierry Cohen, this short film composites the heavily light polluted "City That Never Sleeps" with the pristine night skies of Grand Canyon and Death Valley International Dark-Sky Parks.
In 2015, state of NY took an unprecedented step to begin protecting wildlife from excessive use of lights: "New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that state-owned and state-managed buildings from Buffalo to Gotham and Binghamton to Plattsburg will participate in the Audubon NY Lights Out program. That means unessential outdoor lighting will be shut off from 11:00 p.m. to dawn, from April 15 through May 31, and August 15 through November 15, when waves of songbirds migrate through New York in the dark en route to southern wintering grounds." audubon.org/news/new-york-turns-out-lights
The film was shot on Canon 5DIV cameras & lenses sponsored by Canon USA, aided by Alpine Labs' Michron & Pulse, powered by Paul C. Buff Vagabond Mini. Adobe Lightroom & Premiere were used for editing and processing. Additional corrections by LRTimelapse.
This video is a follow up to SKYGLOW, vimeo.com/125108525, a WWW.SKYGLOWPROJECT.COM viral video which was a subject of an episode of Discovery Science's "Outrageous Acts of Science" which can be viewed here: vimeo.com/175896277
SKYGLOW NYC stills: bit.ly/2GnHiQX SKYGLOW Book Stills: bit.ly/2vXO7Ag Other Photos from SKYGLOWPROJECT.COM: bit.ly/2whWSaQ
Credits: Producer/Editor/Shooter: Harun Mehmedinovic & Gavin Heffernan, Music: Terry Devine-King
Special Thanks: Leila Conners & Mathew Schmid, Mikayla Khramov, Annie Dolan, Semezdin & Sanja Mehmedinovic, Aaron McNally & Canon USA, Kevin Noble & Paul C. Buff Inc., Greg Horvath & Alpine Labs, Inc., International Dark-Sky Association, Northern Arizona University, State of New York.
Locations: New York City. Night skies courtesy of Death Valley National Park, Grand Canyon National Park and Fort Union National Monument.
Follow/Contact: Facebook facebook.com/skyglowproject Instagram: instagram.com/skyglowproject Email: [email protected]
We appreciate all your shares, comments and likes, thanks for checking out this video! For more videos please visit: vimeo.com/harun
This video is COPYRIGHT 2018 Harun Mehmedinovic / SKYGLOWPROJECT.COM. Any use beyond embedding this video in its unaltered form and properly credited to SKYGLOW PROJECT/SKYGLOWPROJECT.COM on another website, requires special permission from the creator. Any use of the entirety or portion(s) of this video to drive advertising traffic, sales or any other profit-driven venture on a third party website without express permission from the content creator will result in prosecution to the full extent of the law.
Timelapse artists and filmmakers Gavin Heffernan and Harun Mehmedinović are proud to introduce WWW.SKYGLOWPROJECT.COM, a 192-page hardcover photobook and timelapse video series exploring North America’s remaining magnificent night skies and the increasing impact of light pollution on our highly fragile environment.
A blend of images, stories, essays, and anecdotal captions, SKYGLOW explores the history and mythology of celestial observation and the proliferation of electrical outdoor lighting that spurred the rise of the phenomena known as “light pollution,” a grave threat not only to our incredible starscapes but also to the very ecosystem itself.
After a highly publicized Kickstarter campaign that ended as the fourth-most earning Photobook campaign ever, Harun and Gavin traveled over 150,000 miles and logged more than 3,000,000 photos on their grueling three-year quest. From incredible locations like the active Kīlauea volcano in Hawaii to Alberta’s majestic Northern Lights, SKYGLOW takes viewers on a visual journey through time, exploring our civilization’s evolving relationship with light and the night sky through the ages.
#City#night sky#dark sky#skyglow#new york#new york city#urban#milky way#international dark sky association#international dark sky week#video#vimeo#the earth story#light pollution
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Original caption:

Shot and Produced by Gavin Heffernan (SunchaserPictures.com) and Harun Mehmedinović (Bloodhoney.com) Created in association with BBC EARTH (bbc.com/earth/world) Music: NEBULA by MarkPetrie.com. Courtesy MONTAGE MX
Star Trails and Rock Trails Collide at Arizona's legendary WAVE. We had seen many beautiful night pictures taken there but no actual timelapses, so we went for it! Painstakingly assembled from over 10,000 stills snagged on two grueling trips. More info on THE WAVE here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wave,_Arizona.
WAVELIGHT Stills Available on FLICKR page here: flickr.com/photos/50014474@N05/sets/72157646998996623/
Note: WAVE access requires BLM permits (daily lottery or pre-ordered) and is a no camping, no campfire location. Please respect this amazing place if you decide to go visit!
#The wave#timelapse#star trails#arizona#desert#geology#nature#landscape#wanderlust#Vermillion Cliffs#national monument#the earth story#night sky#dark sky#International dark sky association#video
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Shenandoah Valley, located in gorgeous rural Virginia, is part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the oldest mountain range in the world.
Shenandoah National Park, located at the northern section of the valley, struggles to maintain its dark skies as the surrounding towns such as Harrisonburg, Charlottesville and even as far back as Washington D.C, produce high levels of light pollution. Although the Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division of the National Park aims to curb light pollution on federal lands across the United States, severe urban light pollution of surrounding towns often negates those efforts.
This video reveals an interesting phenomenon which occurred in Summer 2015, when endless storms hammered the east coast of the United States for weeks. During one night, the clouds from those storms blocked much of the light pollution, which coupled with the clarity of the atmosphere, provided a rare crystal clear sighting of the Milky Way from the high elevation of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
This video was filmed as part of SKYGLOW (skyglowproject.com), an ongoing crowdfunded quest to explore the effects and dangers of urban light pollution in contrast with some of the most incredible dark sky areas in North America. This project is being produced in collaboration with International Dark-Sky Association (darksky.org), a non-profit fighting for the preservation of night skies around the globe.
Originally premiered on BBC Earth: bbc.com/earth/story/20151219-a-rare-glimpse-of-the-milky-way-over-the-shenandoah-valley
The film was shot and edited by Harun Mehmedinović on Canon 5DIII & 6D Cameras aided by Alpine Labs' Michron, powered by Paul C. Buff Vagabond Mini. The startrails were created using the rotation of Earth's axis and STARSTAX. LRTimelapse was used to process some of the shots.
#Shenandoah#Valley#Geology#Mountains#Timelapse#Night sky#Dark sky#skyglow#virginia#International dark sky association#video#wanderlust#national park#find your park#milky way#blue ridge#the earth story
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On the 27th of January, 2014, the Dark Sky Reserve in County Kerry, Ireland, received the official Gold Standard Status from the International Dark Sky Association.

This is the first and only Gold Tier reserve in the Northern Hemisphere and one of only three in the world. The area covers approximately 700km sq including the Iveragh Peninsula taking in Kells, Cahersiveen, Valentia Island, Waterville, Portmagee, Caherdaniel and Ballinskelligs. The ring of Kerry, which has to be one of the most beautiful areas of Ireland, is located in the southwest of the country. Over 1.5 million tourists pass through there annually and astro-tourism has been on the increase in recent years.

The skies are some of the darkest in the world, with Sky Quality Meter readings of over 21 in the core area. The Milky Way, which can’t be seen from cities, is often clearly visible as a river of stars across the sky.

This image was taken by Don MacMonagle over McCarthy’s Castle and Horse Island on Ballinskelligs Beach in Co Kerry, Ireland.

-Jean

Link to photographers FB page: https://www.facebook.com/macmonagle?pnref=lhc

Source: facebook.com
#Ireland#Kerry#St. Patrick's Day#Night sky#Dark sky#International dark sky association#Travel#The earth story
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The Bortle Scale and Light Pollution

The Bortle Scale is used by astronomers to rate the darkness of our skies. It ranges from 1 (darkest) to 9 (brightest). For most of us, our daily lives are spent beneath a radiance level of between 5 and 8 and rarely venture into areas ranked 3 or darker- and what a shame that is.

Light pollution, while a testament to our technological advances, has blanketed our view of the universe and decoupled our relationship with the cosmos. For the millions of people living in areas where less than 20 stars can be seen in the night sky, it is practically impossible to imagine a natural sky blanketed with upwards of 2,500 stars backed by great ribbons of billions of stars which can be found in our Galaxy: The Milky Way.

What are the effects of light pollution?

From a research perspective, studies have demonstrated that our overuse of artificial light at night can increasingly be linked to sleep disorders, diabetes and cancer. Ecologically, habitats are disturbed and species are forced to adapt to or flee from this unnatural phenomenon. Environmentally, it is a huge waste of energy. Socially, increased light pollution can lead to a decrease in safety and security.

From a psychological perspective, the lack of a brilliant dark sky can affect our humility. Without the nightly reminder of a vast cosmos, it is easy to forget how small we are, how insignificant. It is simple to imagine that we are the centre of all things when confined to a solitary closed ecosystem, this tasks gets harder when faced with the immensity of the universe before us.

Before we invented civilisation, our ancestors embraced the darkness of space, wondered at the stars and contemplated the universe. Today, we immerse ourselves in artificial light; a lot of which is unnecessary and the result of bad habits. If we shield, downgrade or time our existing lighting infrastructure we could open the wonders of the night sky back up again.

While artificial light has undoubtedly enriched our lives, the same has always been true of darkness- we do not need to be afraid of it.

In the words of Sarah Williams “I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.”

-Jean

Source: facebook.com
#Light pollution#Bortle scale#light#Artificial light#Night sky#Astronomy#Stars#Dark sky#International dark sky association#The earth story
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The hydrothermal features of  Yellowstone by day and by night, for the Park Service’s 100 birthday Located at the corner of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, Yellowstone, America's first National Park, sits on one of the most powerful supervolcanoes on the planet. Yellowstone Caldera last erupted approximately 64 million years ago, sending pyroclastic flows across hundreds of miles in diameter, and covering most of North America with a thick layer of ash. Carried by weather, ash and other particles covered the globe, causing a year-long blackout, and resulting in a devastating nuclear winter. Today, Yellowstone provides the visitors a spectacle of geothermal features and prismatic colors as pressure underneath builds to eventual geyser explosions across the basin. This breathtaking volcanic ritual serves as reminder that some of the most beautiful parts of nature and often the most dangerous. Dedicated to Colin Nathaniel Scott who died at Yellowstone just days after this video was made. This video was filmed as part of SKYGLOW (skyglowproject.com), an ongoing crowdfunded quest to explore the effects and dangers of urban light pollution in contrast with some of the most incredible dark sky areas in North America. This project is being produced in collaboration with International Dark-Sky Association (darksky.org), a non-profit fighting for the preservation of night skies around the globe. The film was shot on Canon 5DSR & 5DIII cameras & lenses sponsored by Canon USA, aided by Alpine Labs' Michron, powered by Paul C. Buff Vagabond Mini. LRTimelapse was used to process some of the shots.
#Yellowstone#national park#Geothermal#Geyser#Steam#Hot spring#Parks100#Find your park#Nature#Dark sky#Night sky#International dark sky association#mountain#Wyoming#Video#HD#4k#Timelapse#The earth story
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England's newest dark sky reserve, in its newest National Park

The South Downs are an area of rolling green hills and dramatic landscapes carved into the cretaceous chalk that overlies the area (see http://bit.ly/1qcaPzK for an introduction to the area's geology), only recognised as worthy of protection in 2011, though it had been recommended for inclusion in the first post war report in the 1940's. It runs some 140km east to west from the ancient capital of Winchester to the 19th century seaside resort of Eastbourne, taking in some spectacular cliffs and geology along the way. The Park ends in the western scarp of the Weald, England's own piece of the Alps where a fold has pushed the Jurassic rocks up from below through the now eroded chalk, revealing them.

The park was carefully delineated to avoid major towns through most of its length, and in consequence it was possible to retrofit street lighting in those smaller towns that remained within its boundaries. After these and other efforts and an extensive evaluation process, South Downs has now become the 11th International Dark Sky reserve in the world. Lucky really since a glance at any satellite photo of Britain shows how few dark patches there are, especially in the south eastern quadrant, which is densely populated. The reserve allows access to some 17million people to a dark sky within an hour's drive, including the population of London (and having lived there I know you're lucky if you can see the moon quite often, let alone any stars).

Meeting the standard is quite a challenge since you need a defined core area of natural still existing darkness, along with an organised periphery alert to the agenda of keeping the light level down (in this case including cities like Brighton and major ports such as Portsmouth and Southampton)). Volunteers spent three years mapping the quality of the sky around the proposed park, evaluating what the lowest brightness of star was visible to the naked eye.

The photo shows the Seven Sisters cliffs where the Weald meets the sea, with the celestial Seven Sisters of the Pleiades bright above the horizon, and the V shape of the Hyades (the horns of Taurus, the heavenly bull) rising from the horizon beneath.

Loz

Image credit: South Downs National Park/PA

http://bit.ly/21RhCg6 https://www.southdowns.gov.uk/ http://darksky.org/idsp/reserves/

Source: facebook.com
#South Downs#Dark sky#Night sky#International dark sky association#Dark sky reserve#England#Jurassic#Pleiades#Seven sisters#Weald#Ocean#The earth story#Constellation#stars
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The Hunter

In this shot, the Constellation known locally as Orion the Hunter is rising over Tryfan, a 500 million or so year old chunk of igneous and sedimentary rock that makes up one of the few “3000 foot” peaks in Wales (official height 918 m). This area is a part of Snowdonia National Park, the first national park in Wales.

As of last week, Snowdonia National Park is now the world’s 10th International Dark Sky Reserve. That designation is proclaimed by the International Dark Sky Association to recognize areas that take conscious efforts to preserve natural views of skies like this through intelligent development and use of technologies to limit light pollution.

Attaining this designation will help protect sky views like this even as development and tourism in the area grows. As of now, 18% of the land area of Wales has been designated as International Dark Sky Reserves, the highest fraction of any country in the world.

-JBB

Image credit: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes https://flic.kr/p/qCeGpJ

References: http://bit.ly/1TqXzjX http://www.haroldstreet.org.uk/welsh-3000/ http://bit.ly/1TqXzjX

Source: facebook.com
#Night sky#dark sky#Snowdonia#Constellation#Tryfan#Mountain#National Park#Wales#International dark sky association#Dark Sky Reserve#Night#Photography#The earth story
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Canyonlands becomes Dark Sky Park

The International Dark Sky Association is a non-profit originally formed by a pair of astronomers to provide a voice in favor of protecting the views of the sky from light pollution. They promote events such as the International Dark Sky Week and since 2001 have certified several dozen locations as Dark Sky communities, reserves, and parks based on their exceptional views of the sky and commitment to preserving those views.

This week, Utah’s Canyonlands National Park became the 19th such Park designated around the world. According to the press release associated with the designation, the Park has taken several steps in recent years to preserve its night sky views, including revamping nearly all of the park’s lighting fixtures with “night sky friendly” lighting that keeps light focused downwards and limits light pollution.

This view of the Milky Way was captured over Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park in 2013. I think it’s interesting that you can spot what is probably just a little bit of light pollution from a few structures in the distance through the arch.

The World’s first designated Dark Sky park, Natural Bridges National Monument, is located a short distance to the south of the much larger Canyonlands Park.

-JBB

Image credit: Chao Yen https://flic.kr/p/ePngB4

Press Release: http://darksky.org/canyonlands-national-park-named-international-dark-sky-park/ http://darksky.org/idsp/ http://www.astronomy.com/news/2015/08/utahs-canyonlands-becomes-newest-dark-sky-park

Source: facebook.com
#Nature#Photography#Night Sky#Dark Sky#Canyonlands#International dark sky association#Dark Sky Park#National Park#Light#Engineering#Mesa Arch#Sandstone#Sedimentary#The earth story#Milky Way
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