I decided to go to NSP3 so I could spend some time with my under-utilized 8" Meade LX200. These days, I seldom if ever have time to go to the PAC observing site (25 miles south of Lincoln). Most of my observing is done from my patio. I grew up in a small town where you could stand in the back yard and see stars down to about 6th magnitude. In recent years I've been to Hawaii and the Bahamas and have rented houses in locations where there are no lights for dozens to hundreds of miles. These short glimpses of the "real" night sky have served as a reminder of what I've lost by living in a large city.
I was not prepared for the awesome view of the night sky at NSP3. Even the first-hand reports from NSP2 weren't adequate to describe that view. The Milky Way was transformed from a faint cloud-like formation into an almost three-dimensional edge-on galaxy. Jupiter looked like a supernova. Meteors were visible at the rate of 40-50 an hour (all week!).
On Friday night at about 2:00am I shut down the scope, the computer and the CCD and got out my binoculars to scan the sky the old-fashioned way. M31 appeared as an extended object--covering 2 or 3 degrees. Other attendees said that the North America Nebula was also a naked eye object. Hale-Bopp was plainly visible. I stood there trying to imagine what it was like for my parents-- growing up on farms in rural Nebraska, miles from any large towns, seeing this sky--every night!
I drove back to Lincoln on Saturday, and spent most of Sunday updating this web site. At about 11:30 Sunday evening, I went out on the patio to see if it was clear or cloudy. There were a few clouds in the sky, but not many. I looked up and, in shock, counted only 10 stars. The depressing part is knowing that it's all still there-- just masked from view by poorly designed lights. Maybe what we should do is invite our elected officials and their families, out to our star parties so they can see what they're missing. Once they realize that something can be done about it (and that it can reduce energy costs) we might have a chance at restoring what we've lost.