The Darkest Skies
in Idaho

"Smoke plume to west, some high cirrus, transparency fair. Second set best of night"

"21.62. Milky Way overhead, bright for SQM reading. Airglow or aurora to the east northeast later in the evening, getting brighter through the night"

"Sky quality measurements were recorded at Kings Bowl in Craters of the Moon NM on 6/25/2017. The site demonstrated a scientific darkness reading of 21.76 SQM."

"Sky quality measurements were recorded at Inferno Cone in Craters of the Moon NM on 8/27/2008. The site demonstrated a scientific darkness reading of 21.72 SQM."

"No cars at this site, easier to dark adapt. SQM 21.7. Headlights reflecting off truck camper"

"Instrument set up on ridge just NW of the lookout. Seeing good, transparency very good. Glow to the northwest from airglow or aurora, not as bright east or southeast. Small light dome due north, fainter than Jupiter, another fainter smaller light dome northeast. Toward Columbia Falls lots of light, bright white glare illuminating the mountains from some sort of industrial yard, at least 10 unshielded lights visible, bright enough to kill night vision, casts shadows. Wonderful sky if you can get away from the glare. Milky Way directly overhead, very bright with much detail in Cygnus, all the rifts and holes apparent, North America nebula an easy visual object. Also in Cassiopeia much detail, bridge in the MIlky Way north of Mirfak visible. Sagittarius Milky Way washed out by Columbia falls area, the light dome of which extends 30 degrees from horizon upward, 40-50 degrees wide."

"Clear night with very good transparency during the first set. Decreasing transparency for remaining sets. High cirrus move on on N NE horizon. Some airglow sarting in the evening"

"Very clear night! Cloud free, but fire smoke visible to the south and east from N. Calofornia fires. Possibly some smoke to the north low along the horizon. No visible light domes in any direction and only one or two single glare sources in the valleys below from ranches. Exceptionally bright Milky Way with rich detail from Sagitarrius Star Cloud to Cygnus. Easily visble from horizon to horizon. M31 easily visble with naked eye. SQM readings probably a little low due to Milky Way being almost overhead. Milky Way casting shadows with no problem. One of the best nights skies this observer has seen."

"Camplight in campground causing direct glare SQM 21.62."

"Set up camera equipment on the trail to the camp. Clouds in the afternoon all cleared out by 9:00 pm, though it appeared as if some fire smoke moved through the northern horizon later in the night. Excellent night sky viewing from this park, rivaling sites on the Colorado Plateau. A single yard light on a ranch building 2.5 miles north was bothersome, otherwise no visible lights seen from this location. A very faint light dome from Butte (60 miles distant) and nothing apparent from Wisdom, the nearest community (9 miles). Very fine detail visble in the Milky Way, with the Prancing Horse easily seen and the dust lanes in great detail. Stars are visible to the horizon in the south. Saw limiting magnitude star of 7.2 in Draco. Mars and Jupiter very bright to the SE and SW."