We will never get to achieve the same sky quality of W. Texas within our area of concern, but we may be one of the best options for thousands of North Carolinians. Source: Astro_Alexandra #Astronomy #astrophotography #publichealth #lightpollution #ashecounty #northcarolina

Are digital billboards a necessary form of outdoor artificial light at night? No. No they are not. youtu.be/zn9HtuX_X-s?...

Price Lake was fantastic early on tonight. We did some LP outreach with about 20 folks and did an astrophotography clinic while our resident Star Sherpa (John Boston) shared views of Saturn at opposition.

Mt. Jefferson's Sunrise Overlook this time. Very few people stopped by, but we were able to show them the sky after it cleared up. Seen here is David Heflin who was able to show these lovely folks a very clear view of Saturn at near opposition. Thanks to Ranger Emily for letting us give it a try!

A few campers at 221 Access New River State Park got their first views of Saturn last night. Saturn season is here. Saturn is at opposition this Sunday. If it is clear enough, we might be found out on the parkway in Blowing Rock. Photo credit: John Boston starsherpa.net

We enjoy memes on the hazards of artificial light at night (ALAN). If you know of others, please share. #publichealth #Astronomy #ecology #environmentalhealth

Ashe DSC was listening in on Leigh Ann Henion's reading promoting her wonderful book, "Night Magic" at he Ashe Arts Council. She was kind enough to mention us and our efforts. Thank you, Leigh Ann!

One of the busiest nights at the DSO we can remember. The evening started a bit cloudy, but cleared out to show just about every object we could think of including Saturn and Neptune.

A second evening of observing and discussions of unnecessary use of artificial light at night aka light pollution.

Another fine night of dark skies at 221 Access New River State Park. We were able to see the ISS, catch a glimpse of a few meteors including a fireball, and see excellent views of the southern Milky Way, Andromeda, M13 and Albireo. Solar photos were also taken by the guests.

Another fine evening on the parkway trying to take public health in a fun new direction. Also, crispy weather requires we bring many layers. The temperature change at night has a tendency to catch many guests and even us off guard. #Boone #Ashecounty #wataugacounty #appstate #publichealth

We had a wonderful evening helping out at App State's Family Weekend event at the Dark Sky Observatory. We were able to help approximately 60 guests get their first close up views of the Moon and Saturn.

A cloudy, but still wonderful evening at App State's DarkSky Observatory in Purlear, NC. Thanks Dr. Caton for allowing us to help out. John Boston (Star Sherpa) managed to get excellent images of the lunar surface and captured the "X" and "V" shadow features beautifully.

Another excellent evening of outreach at 221 Access. Solar observing, turned jet spotting, turned excellent Lunar night. #Astronomy #astrophotography #publichealth #Lightpollution

Providing a taste of our October 4th event at Rendezvous Mountain State Park, which will consist of Solar, Lunar, and planetary observing. We are hoping for clear skies.

Another beautiful evening at the Sunset Overlook! Thanks again to Ranger Emily Bunyea for support. We were able to give 22 guests their first views of the Sun and Moon while educating about light pollution.

Our dear friend John LaShell is excellent at describing the wonders of the sky. Day or night. John Boston took this wonderful image of the Sun, which shows what people could see through our H-alpha scope. All for light pollution outreach and well...fun.

Ashe DSC attended NPS Park Interpreter Julie Mulis' program called "Mushroom FungiMentals" at Price Lake. Seen here are all of the mushrooms she was able to collect locally in just a few hours! Ashe DSC wonders just how much artificial light at night affects these lively curiosities.

This time Ashe DSC was at the Grand View Overlook near Boone, NC. We had a nice evening looking for meteors and sharing the views. We even got our first views of Saturn of the year. #Lightpollution #publichealth #astrophotography

darksky.org/what-we-do/e... The Perfect Ghost by Will Hudson

Grandfather Mountain seems to be on board with preserving dark skies for ecological and recreational benefits. #ashecounty #darkskies #astrophotography #ncrecreation #Astronomy #publichealth

This time of year we make a lot of last minute decisions to go out. Once in a while, it says clouds and rain, then turns out to be a pretty good night.

Our first night on Mt. Jefferson was clouded out for the most part, but we managed to get in a little outreach. Four of our volunteers supported this event. Special thanks to John LaShell, John Boston, David Heflin. A very special thanks to Ranger Emily Bunyea for allowing us to give it a try!

A second day of solar observing with 22 campers primed for a beautiful night of stargazing at 221 Access New River State Park. It is a beautiful night!

Finally, some clear cool weather! Ashe DSC gets some attention between closed sections of the parkway. An enjoyable gathering of most of our volunteers. #publichealth #astronomy #astrophotography #darksky

Daytime solar observing doesn't quite pack the same punch as evening sessions, but still fun on occasion.

We are grateful to all the full-time, seasonal, and volunteer staff at New River State Park for working hard to get the entire campground reopened this 4th of July. In celebration, while the community was enjoying fireworks, we helped the visitors get their first glimpses of the Sun and Moon.

Ashe DSC submitted to this contest. Please take a moment to vote on your favorites: capturethedark.us.launchpad6.com/contest2025/...

An evening at Raven's Rock to observe The Moon and Mars in the same field of view while promoting light pollution awareness.

Our own David Heflin captured this very nice image of the Iris Nebula from Ashe County. Still a dark county. I hope we can help keep it that way.

Ashe DSC had an informal night at Price Park Picnic Area. Despite the high atmospheric moisture and haze, our visitors seemed pleased to see a couple of easy objects and learn about our efforts to keep Ashe County and other parts of N.C. dark for recreation, research, ecology, and public health.

Our resident "Star Sherpa", John Boston is deep into tech for drive systems and open source resources such as "Onstep" (seen here). It's nice to have someone tech savvy on our team, ensuring we can provide some of the best outreach astronomical experiences around.

Governor Stein speaking about Western NC and opening NC to tourism. Governor Stein, please recognize NC DSI and Ashe DSC! youtu.be/vjolshzYvXc?...

Our co-initiator David Heflin was kind enough to provide the Ashe County Public Library with a 1 year subscription of Amateur Astronomy Magazine as well as a few copies of DSI's Nightscape. He is also donating a hard cover copy of Leigh Ann Henion's 2024 New York Times Bestseller, Night Magic.

We really love the lighting at the front of the Town Hall in W. Jefferson.

Ashe DSC was so happy to contribute to Leigh Ann Henion's "Night Magic" book signing. We hope we helped put a positive dent in how people apply outdoor lighting in the future for the benefit of humans and the essential parts of nature we rarely get to appreciate...for now.

After the sky opened up at around 10pm, the skies were fairly nice at the DSO last night. Once the June DSO event is scheduled, we will schedule 3 other events for June around it. Keep an eye on our weather predictions and events page: ashedarksky.org/scheduled-ev...

A conversation with David and Amy Heflin. Co-founders and members of Ashe DSC. Here they explain why they are passionate about making their community more aware of the effects of light pollution and helping push for international dark-sky community certification. drive.google.com/file/d/1OQS-...

This is just the coolest graphic: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5276