The Darkest Skies
in Arizona

"Site located on buried water tank near Pintado Point, top of hill with panoramic view. Warm, fairly clear, seeing good. Very dark site except for I-40 headlights and Holbrook light dome, otherwise very little observable light pollution. Airglow moderate, zodiacal light strong early."

"Remote and dark, nice protected location. Seeing good transparency good. Toward the west a bright and conspicuous broad light dome from Indio/Palm Springs/Beaumont/Los Angeles is the most evident insult to an otherwise excellent night sky. Barely discernable small light dome from Brawley/El Centro/Mexicali due south, and a faint glow over the mountains north from Las Vegas. Very good location for observing despite dirt road and little room for set up."

"Some cirrus to the south, low airglow, good transparency"

"Windy, difficult observing conditions, good site, a few light trespass issues, convenient observing location. Otherwise identical to Lipan Point previous night. Stray light in 3rd set."

"Sky quality measurements were recorded at Hart Mine in Castle Mountains NM on 5/19/2017. The site demonstrated a scientific darkness reading of 21.7 SQM."

"Kayenta light dome faint but visible. High cirrus throughout day, some still may still be present but not obvious visually. SQM 21.56"

"Excellent location for public star program, telescopes could be placed along paved handicapped accessible trail. Instrument located on the roof of the interpretive shelter, good to clear trees but somewhat extreme, not recommended for future. Seeing good transparency excellent but some haze to far west. Airglow variable and moderate. No light dome extends beyond altitude 15 degrees, Phoenix hidden behind Sugarloaf, Tucson/Benson brightest. Many bright unshielded lights along the Willcox Playa cause light trespass that is a significant impact to dark adaptation. Otherwise a perfect sky and location for visual astronomy. SQM not taken."

"Clouds visible to NE and W, with haze everywhere else, which accentuates the lights from Page, Az. Inversion layer. Gegenshein not visible. SQM of 21.6"

"Sky quality measurements were recorded at Anderson Mesa, Ashurst Lake in Coconino NF on 7/9/2016. The site demonstrated a scientific darkness reading of 21.65 SQM."

"Site located just north of NPOI on Anderson Mesa, on 2 track dirt road near the snow fence, south of Prime Lake. Sky perfectly cloudless, low inversion (smoke?) layer observed over Flagstaff, very subtle. Visibility good, about 80 miles, slight haze, dead calm, cool. Zodiacal light in first set overlaps Flagstaff, virtually absent from 3rd set. Zodiacal band not observed, gegenschein lost in Milky Way. Considerable detail in summer Milky Way, two dust lanes observed to Antares. Almost no airglow, sky very dark at zenith. 6.9 ZLM with difficulty, observer's eyes strained, dark adaptation not complete. Flagstaff light dome degrades night vision, must be blocked, illuminates landscape slightly."