How to Preserve the Dark Skies
VALLE DE ORO NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE is an oasis just seven miles south of Albuquerque. The former 570-acre farm, the first urban wildlife refuge in the Southwest, also ranks as an Urban Night Sky…
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Explore the Deep Night Sky
A FORM OF ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY that’s popular among more serious amateur astronomers is taking photos of distant objects in space. Retired aerospace engineers Lori and Barry Flansburg take pictures of…
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Get the Best View of the Annular Solar Eclipse
BEFORE ASSUMING ASTRONOMY is one outdoor activity that doesn’t require sunscreen, consider solar watching: a way to observe the sun during daytime, along with other parts of the lunar cycle not…
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Photograph the Night Sky like a Pro
WAYNE SUGGS HAS HONED HIS EXPERTISE in night-sky photography over 48 years, including eight as a workshop instructor. “When I was 14, I set up my Nikon FM in the forest and used flashes and would just…
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Scope Out These Astronomy Clubs
FOUNDED IN 1951 by Pluto discoverer Clyde Tombaugh, the Astronomical Society of Las Cruces holds downtown moon-gazing events, monthly dark sky gatherings at their Walter Haas Observatory in Leasburg…
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Native Stories Written in the Stars
“I’VE ALWAYS ADMIRED the stars,” says Wanda Yazzie (Diné), a member of the Albuquerque Astronomical Society. “It’s just natural to look up and see what’s out there.” Yazzie, the third oldest of 11…
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Peter Lipscomb Aims for the Stars
AFTER 22 YEARS AS A GUIDE to New Mexico’s night sky, Peter Lipscomb remains enchanted with what he calls the most ancient of all natural beauties. A self-taught astronomer and award-winning…
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Nine Best Places to Go Stargazing
COSMIC CAMPGROUND Alma Forty miles from the nearest significant source of electric light, the 3.5-acre site was the first International Dark Sky Sanctuary in the U.S. and is still just one of 17 in…
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Try These Tips for Stargazing
AS THE PAJARITO ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTER’S (PEEC) planetarium manager, Elizabeth Watts leads stargazing and full moon hikes that teach people how to enjoy our skies after dark. “One of my goals…
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Fall in Love with New Mexico's Night Skies
FIVE YEARS AGO, during a Perseid meteor shower in August, my husband and I spent our first night at Cosmic Campground in the Gila National Forest. We’d planned the visit ever since DarkSky (formerly…
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