On a cold January eve, we — the Birdy crew — made our way from Denver to Boulder Valley Ranch trailhead right as the sun was setting with one mission: to stargaze. We found a nearly empty lot except for a large van decorated with glow-the-dark stickers and dim red lights parked alongside tables displaying astronomical machinery and gadgets. Three state-of-the-art telescopes were silhouetted against the darkening horizon, the most notable being a 16-inch Dobsonian, standing taller than us depending on its position. A row of red cozy camp chairs completed the scene. Decked out in a warm almost space-esque jumpsuit and headlamp, astronomer Aislynn Mills greeted us before we took our seats. Astro Tours is Colorado’s hands-on night tour of the sky using telescopes, lasers and binoculars guided by local, passionate astronomers. Participants experience a one-of-a-kind opportunity to see planets, constellations, nebula, clusters, galaxies and sometimes shooting stars with their own eyes. Providing realtime education about our planet and place in the universe, their astronomers intertwine the wonders of the stars with the magic of storytelling. Most importantly, their mission is to bring the cosmos to people to share a unifying perspective that we inhabit this small planet together. Aislynn starts the tour by explaining the three different types of twilights: civil, nautical and astronomical, the one we were starting to experience, where the sun is 10-20 degrees below the horizon and we can start to see the brighter objects and some of the fainter ones in the sky. She pauses to hand each of mini squeeze keychain with a micro red light. “These are red lights. We use red light because it has the longest wavelength, so it has the lowest energy and it doesn’t hurt our eyes once they get adjusted to the dark, or what we call our ‘night vision.’ If you look at white light, like your phone, after you get your night vision, you lose it instantly and it takes around 20 minutes to get that back.” Not even five minutes in and more “wows” have escaped from our mouths than we can count. After going over the basics: the shape of the earth, the direction it’s moving in (which we all failed to guess correct the first time) — she explains that, “We’re actually moving towards the east at 800 mph. So if the Boulder Reservoir is two miles due east from this trailhead, we will occupy that bit of space the reservoir is in nine seconds. If that doesn’t have you dizzy yet, don’t worry. The night is young.” 25 A S T R O N O M E R A I S L Y N N M I L L S
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