Just drove 3 hours to Cherry Springs State Park and couldn't see a thing

I planned this trip for months, checked the weather, packed a new chair and my 8 inch Dob. Got there around 9 PM and the sky was washed out. I thought it was a dark sky park but the moon was barely up. Turns out a wildfire 60 miles away was pumping smoke into the whole region. Couldn't even spot the Milky Way. Rangers said it's been happening more often the last few years. Anyone else run into this with smoke ruining a trip?

2 comments

2 Comments

noranguyen7d ago

Yeah the wildfire smoke has been getting SO bad lately. I had a similar thing happen at Cherry Springs back in July. Drove 4 hours and the sky was this weird hazy orange. Couldn't even see the Pleiades let alone Andromeda. Rangers told me it was from a fire in Canada. Felt like such a waste of gas and planning after checking the moon phase and everything. It's wild how far smoke travels now compared to even a few years ago.

kais677d ago

Did you ever find out exactly how far that smoke traveled? I've been trying to track plumes from the BC fires this year and it seems like they're hitting Pennsylvania from like 2000 miles away. Checked some satellite images from NOAA one day and saw a straight line of haze from Alberta down to the Gulf Coast. Makes me wonder if we're gonna start needing to check air quality maps before planning trips as much as we check moon phase charts now.