What are dark skies?
In stargazing a dark sky is an area with minimal artificial light pollution, providing a clear, natural view of the night sky, including the Milky Way. These locations allow for high-contrast viewing of stars by avoiding the "sky glow" from urban areas. They are measured by the Bortle scale, ranging from 1 (pristine) to 9 (inner-city).
The Bortle scale which shows a range from best to worst night sky viewing.
Unfortunately Maryland has very few ideal locations for excellent viewing. As you can see in the map below due to population density there are few dark sky locations.
Light pollution map of Maryland showing the 1-95 corridor being the worst part of the state to look at the night sky.
The far western, eastern and southern areas are your best viewing options. Map generated by lightpollutionmap.info
This does not mean there aren’t places you can go to view the stars. Below are some of the best areas in Maryland to catch some good celestial action.
If you can’t get to these places, don’t let that stop you. Here are some tips for local viewing options.
- Get away from lights. Cities are the worst. Street lights, illuminated parking lots, highways, densely populated neighborhoods.
- Look for opportunities in your area. If you have a school by you there may be sports fields that are used for practice. They’re usually away from the main complex and can provide great opportunities.
- Look for places where you can see the largest area of sky. Again open fields are good because some of the best things to see are at just above the horizon.
- Go near the water. If you have an expanse of water in front of you it could provide a dark area for viewing.
- Finally, watch the Moon. Full Moons wash out the sky and make it difficult to see stars, planets, and meteor showers. On a new Moon night or when the Moon is less than a quarter it will be best for viewing. If you are going out on nights with a full or fuller Moon, try to time things before or after moonrise or moonset.
