As a society we really need to start reducing light pollution. It doesn't take much to shield the tops of streetlights and advertisements to at least make the majority of their light point downward.
I just got back from a week observing at a very dark site - Pine Mountain Observatory in Central Oregon. SQM readings over 22, for those with sky quality meters. The Milky Way was literally staggering - I had to sit down to take it in. If you've never seen the night sky from a truly dark place, please try to do so.
Back in 2005 I took a trip to New Zealand for a couple months. Once of the places I stayed many times during the trip was Stewart Island [0]. The house I stayed at was on the shore of Horseshoe Bay, I don't know where on the scale of "darkness quality" it fell, but the sky was ablaze with stellar objects the like of which I'd not seen for many years.
At night we'd sit on the beach at around midnight looking up at a sky that was truly mind bending to behold. Also because this was my first ever trip to the southern hemisphere the sky looked totally alien. I'll never forget those nights.
> "We finally realized what we were dealing with," Krupp said. "The quake had knocked out most of the power, and people ran outside and they saw the stars. The stars were in fact so unfamiliar; they called us wondering what happened."
I highly recommend the observatory near Fort Davis, Texas for their star parties. Another one of the darkest places in the country, and ~7 hours from Austin.
