Night Sky Assessment Shows More Light from Ely

This article was originally published in The Midden – Great Basin National Park: Vol. 19, No. 1, Summer 2019.

Sunset on Mt. Washington, where the night sky assessment was performed.

NPS Photo by Ashley Pipkin

by Ashley Pipkin, Natural Sounds and Night Skies Coordinator, NPS Pacific West Region

On September 10, 2018 the Natural Sounds and Night Skies coordinator for the Pacific West Region, Ashley Pipkin, took a night sky assessment at Great Basin NP. She was assisted by field staff and went to the top of Mt Washington where she used a CCD camera to collect an all-sky image. This image is actually composed of 46 pictures of the sky stitched together to create one image. This single image can be processed and assessed for night sky quality and the amount of anthropogenic light that is added to the nocturnal environment.

The last image collected at Great Basin was in 2005 and the park wanted to know how the sky had changed.

Overall, Great Basin still has an amazing night sky with very few visible light domes, or light groups from distant cities. There were not significant increases in brightness from any cities although an increase in brightness from the Ely light dome was visible on the images.

Check out the Astronomy Ranger Minute to learn more about why we care about the night sky.