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Jackson Gibbs
When I arrive at the address the man had emailed me, I send him a quick text.
I think Im outside…. Youre here just in time!
About five minutes before, the aurora borealis had appeared in the sky above New York City.
The way he sees it?
Light pollution severity impacts the level of connection that someone has to the night.
So…what does this mean for me?
Even as a cynical teenager, I knew it was magic.
Or Im pecking out email responses on my phone while I walk.
Or, is there a way to recreate the stargazing experience from the concrete jungle?
I decided to find out.
First, a little more about why contemplating the cosmos can be so good for you.
Its this link that corresponds with psychological well-being.
How does the night air feel on your skin?
Being more present in your body can increasemindfulnessand help you feel relaxed.
Then we haveemotion, says Dr. Barnes.
Other mental health and astronomy experts echo Dr. Barnes.
That moment to reflectI like that.
I can spare a moment, cant I?
But is that enough?
It doesnt matter how long you spend in naturethats not the important thing.
It doesnt matter how light-polluted it is where you live.
Translation: Theres hope for me yet.
I ease myself into the seat and launch the stargazing app Ive just downloaded.Now, wheres the star Deneb… Let me tell you, hes a real glass-half-full kind of guy.
Plan what you would like to go out and see, he says.
I scan the sky while I let my eyes adjust.
I look from the sky to my phone and back again.
Is that Deneb, straight ahead?
Or wait, should I be facing west?
I realize that the pinprick of light I thought was Saturn is actually an airplane.
Instead, I think back to Dr. Barness pathways to nature connectedness and take stock of my other senses.
The late September air has a bite to ita welcome chill after a stifling summer.
And music is playing across the street in Prospect Park.
Im quiet, still, and relaxedbut the city is buzzing.
Second stop: The planetarium
Okay, so NYC doesnt have great star visibility.
But you know what we do have in this city?
Great museumsstellar ones, even.
So up next is a visit to the American Museum of Natural HistorysHayden Planetarium.
They point to planetariums, space photography, and at-home astro projectors as alternatives to IRL stargazing.
But hey, Ill take what I can get.
Your journey will begin soon, a friendly museum attendant tells me.
Across the way I see two gray-haired women.
And next to me is a couple, younger than I am, holding hands.
Were all here to see the show; to learn more about our mysterious universe.
The presentation is dazzling.
Actor Lupita Nyongo narrates the trip, teaching us about each part of our solar system in turn.
Going to Venus deepened our understanding of global warming.
Before my visit, I thought the planetarium would deepen my connection to the night sky through beauty.
What could be more inspiring than an up-close look at the moons craters or Jupiters clouds?
Thats the first domino to fall.
Is anyone able to connect me with an urban stargazer with a telescope?
Its timeless immensity and beautiful stillness helps reframe our ridiculously anxious era into something more meaningful.
This is my guy.
I shoot back a reply: Any chance youd be willing to meet up?
Brendan Lorberis an artist and writer by trade, backyard astronomer by passion.
He likes to set up the telescope that his wife gifted him from the deck of his second-story apartment.
We call it the sky deck, he tells me.
We stand on the deck and watch as the aurora borealisthe northern lightscasts a soft glow over the borough.
I ask Lorber why he likes astronomy.
Because if it werent for these stars, everything in the universe would just be hydrogen, he says.
But the stars cook that hydrogen into helium and then onto carbon.
Theyre just these furnaces that create new kinds of atoms.
All the atoms in our body were once in some star thats no longer alive.
A Jewish family in orthodox dress approaches.
We just taught our son about the planets today!
I have the answer to my question.
Can you get a mental boost from stargazing in New York City?
Absolutely, unequivocally yes.
Were all citizens of the universe, Viegas (of the AAA) tells me.
Connection to the planet and the universe, but also to humanity.
Its at least in the corner of the eye of anybody whos out and about right now.
So it becomes this shared experience with probably a billion strangers.
Everyone wants that sense of magic in their lives.
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