Growing up in Kansas affected my appreciation for the night sky as did summers as a kid camping under the stars in Colorado. I had at one time even entertained the idea of being an astronomer.
A few nights ago I headed south to the Konza Prairie to seek out the best place to see the moonless night sky. I have wanted to capture the Kansas night sky since returning to my home state last summer and finally found the right night. I left home about 9:30 and drove to the Lower Fox Creek School about 20 miles south of Council Grove, Kansas. The old one-room school house is just off Highway 177 so was easy to spot even though the night was black as pitch.
And so here I was again, decades later staring up into the night sky filled with wonder. I shot for several hours and just enjoyed being "out there." In the background coyotes howled and owls hooted as the stars slowly drifted around the North Star.
Despite the sparse population in the area, the level of light pollution is still high. The orange cast in the night sky is caused by lights from Council Grove and other nearby towns.
I have plenty of good pictures from the night but I settled on posting a panorama that includes the Big Dipper in the left side of the photograph.
It was a fun night and I'm looking forward to more photographic exploration in the beautiful Flint Hills.
