Talk:Dark Sky Parks in the United States

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Mauna Kea[edit]

Mauna Kea has some of the clearest views of the night sky in the world, but the upper reaches of it don't seem to be a park per se. See w:Mauna Kea and w:Mauna Kea Observatories. Therefore, I guess we can't list it? Should we mention it, though? Ikan Kekek (talk) 21:43, 13 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]

It certainly does, but I have a feeling that the IDA is quite biased towards western US hence why it might have clearer skies, but not a dark sky park (compare Canada and Australia, which are similar in size when it comes to area, and yet both only have two and one dark sky park each, or even why aren't there much in Florida? Sometimes the nights there seem more clearer to me than it is in AZ or Utah, although that depends on season). Probably why it's not a dark sky park yet. SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta.wikimedia) 21:48, 13 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Sorry, what is the IDA? Florida is heavily populated and has no high places. The only issue with Mauna Kea is that it appears not to be a park. Ikan Kekek (talk) 21:56, 13 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Should have been more clear with Florida, since I was watching the sky in the far south-west of the state, which is definitely better than what you'd get in Flagstaff. (but I'm not denying that AZ has better views, because I agree with that. Keyword was "sometimes")
Oh and IDA = International Dark-Sky Association SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta.wikimedia) 22:02, 13 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]
The clearest night skies I saw before I visited Mauna Kea (the Visitors' Center level, not the peak) were on the East Coast of Malaysia, close to sea level, because there was very little light pollution there, so in clear skies, you could see almost everything visible to the naked eye. Ikan Kekek (talk) 22:20, 13 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Was once about 200 ish kilometres from civilization in Central New South Wales. Could see nearly everything. Had a similar view when near Mount Kosciuszko more recently, but what I saw in Arizona though is hard to compare (around 150ish km from Flagstaff). And when you mean East Coast Malaysia, it's Peninsular Malaysia, not on Borneo? SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta.wikimedia) 22:28, 13 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, the peninsula. Ikan Kekek (talk) 04:50, 14 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]