The night sky in the Bahamas

I'm still at home. Jan and I will leave on Friday for a day in Fort Lauderdale and then we'll fly back to the Abacos on Saturday morning. I thought I'd write about the sky in the Bahamas.

No doubt, the further you get away from light pollution, the brighter the stars in the sky are. Back in the late 80's when we were living in San Diego, I ran a hang glider towing clinic in the desert out near Yuma Arizona. There was a group of us spending 2 days and one night out where we could tow without worry of where the rope landed when we released it from the glider. That saturday night was the most memorable for me in relation to the visible number of stars. We all decided to just sleep out in the desert - without a tent. The number of stars that were visible were simply incredible because we were so far away from the lights of civilization AND the atmosphere had very little humidity in it. As long as I live, I'll never forget that feeling of 'smallness' in the universe.

When Rick and I crossed over from the U.S. to the Bahamas, we got onto the Little Bahamas Bank just after sunset and sailed until 2:30 am. It was a perfectly clear night and the closest I've come to that night 20 years previous in regard to number of stars that you could see. The route we took had us probably 40 miles or more from any population center and so there was very little light pollution, so our only detriment to our seeing the stars was the humidity that you just can't get away from in this part of the world. Again, combining the view of the sky with the fact that we were a 38 foot boat in a vast watery world with no civilization within a reasonable distance - I felt very small.

There's been just a few times that I've felt really small and nearly insignificant in my life. These 2 times and one time when I was at 18,000 feet over Boundary Peak on the north end of the White Mountain range - in the Owens Valley in a hang glider come to mind instantly.

After we'd been in the Abacos for a few days, we were lucky enough to get to experience the Geminid meteor shower while laying on the deck of the sailboat. I saw the most vivid and long lasting meteors I've ever seen that night.

It doesn't escape me - how fortunate I am to be able to add these experiences to the incredible ones I've already had in life. I only wish that more people would take the time and opportunity to make these things happen in their lives as well.