Went to the McDonald Observatory last weekend and the light pollution was way worse than I expected

I drove 3 hours out to the McDonald Observatory near Fort Davis thinking I'd get some killer dark sky photos. But even out there, there's this orange glow from the oil fields down in the Permian Basin that ruins the horizon. You could barely make out the Milky Way core with your naked eye. Has anyone else noticed how bad it's gotten in West Texas over the last few years?

3 comments

3 Comments

william_henderson16d ago

Isn't the natural gas flaring basically just part of the oil field activity though?

max_ross17d ago

Oil fields" aren't the main source, it's actually light from the natural gas flaring that's causing that orange glow.

terry_carter1517d ago

You know, @max_ross, I think you're onto something with that. A buddy of mine drove out there last spring specifically to shoot the Milky Way and he said the same thing about that orange glow. He was so frustrated because he figured being that far from any big city would be perfect. But he told me the light from the flaring was so bad it looked like a sunset was stuck on the horizon all night long. He actually packed up and left a couple hours early because he couldn't get a single clean shot without that orange haze messing with his colors. It's a real shame, that spot used to be one of the best in the state.

-1