It takes some effort these days to see the night sky in all its glory. Most of the places where people live are being increasingly polluted with light. Obviously there are huge advantages to this. But it does keep us from experiencing the wonder of a sky full of stars. To get that, we must travel far from the urban environment and into places where few, if any, people live.
For us, one of those places is Algonquin Park. Just a few hours away from Toronto, it is true wilderness. And the sheer size of the park means that once you’re in it (and away from Highway 60, the road that runs through the southern part), there are no lights anywhere nearby. This summer we were particularly lucky to get a few nights of clear skies and no moon.
The result is more stars than you could ever count. A clearly visible Milky Way. A wondrous sight that is so intoxicating, it makes you want to sit up all night and just stare.
And on this trip, we managed to grab this decent photo of the night sky. It could be better – we’ll try again at the next opportunity. But we’re fairly happy with this attempt. It comes close to showing what we saw with our own eyes that August night on Rain Lake.
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