Hallo All,

First of all, please excuse this rather long post. I have cross-posted
to sci.astro.amateur.

I am currently living in Massachusetts, USA and have recently resumed
my astronomy hobby after a bit of a gap since I first took it up when
I was a 15 year-old boy living in England using a 60mm shop-bought
"department store" scope. (Despite the almost universal criticism of
these, my little refractor fired my interest - I got educated by it at
a time when I couldn't afford a better intrument).

But, to the point: I now live about 40 miles West of Boston and own
better optics An American friend and I have been searching for
easily-reached observing sites away from Boston itself and the
inevitable light pollution. After some scouting, we found an open
field near the Tufts University campus in North Grafton; it's on high
ground and offers reasonable all-round views of the sky (in
Massachusetts, it's hard to escape from the dense concentration of
trees - one can feel really "shut-in" here sometimes when one is used
to more open land!). At any rate, we've been there a few times and set
up our scopes in variable seeing conditions thus far.

As I have implied, it's not the ideal location by any means: the glow
in the NW from Worcester and in the E from the more distant
conurbations closer to Boston itself is pretty bad; the site abuts
Route 30; and the Milky Way has been barely visible. Problems also
include passing vehicles' headlights, and a minority of drivers who
honk their horns when they see us, turn on their hazards when passing
by, and indulge in other silly behaviour, like shouting profanities
(I'm at a loss as to why they do this - truck drivers are by far the
worst at this). But we have persisted in the absence of practical
alternatives.

Anyway, last weekend we were set up in the field with our telescopes
trained on Mars, and at around 22:30 a Tufts Campus Policeman pulled
up in his SUV, shone a brilliant searchlight onto us (eek!) and said
we'd "have to move on soon". He was perfectly polite, but seemed
somehow puzzled by our presence - as if we were doing something rather
weird.

I suppose we should be grateful that we weren't arrested on the
grounds of whatever law the policeman might actually have been
purporting to enforce. I am told by my American friends that this
policeman would have had an entire arsenal of ordinances upon which to
base at least the threat of an arrest. In fact, on the broader issue
of personal liberty, I have found, at diametric odds to my personal
expectation, that US society can be profoundly authoritarian in many
ways, notwithstanding America's truer, libertarian, roots. Local/State
laws here now reach deep into areas which, by European standards,
would seem petty and yet at the same time bear a vague stamp of
totalitarianism. In the Land of the Free, "go figure", as they say
here

At any rate, we gathered up our stuff and left, feeling downhearted
that the only practical observing option - imperfect that it was - had
been in effect closed to us.

So, what now? Well, the following day, we looked at local maps and
decided to drive to the summit of Wachusett Mountain (a Public State
Park at 2000+ ft above sea level) thinking this would be a great place
from which to observe. Driving time is about 45 mins to one hour from
home. And it turned out to be quite stunning, with 60+ miles of 360
degree vistas in the daytime; and unlit car parking. We were dead
excited: it must be a spectacular observing site at night!

"NO" comes the official reply from the Ranger on being asked whether
we could set up our scopes there at night. He says..."you will be
chased out at sunset - no exceptions". I was astonished by this. It's
OUR land - OUR mountain, not some bureacracy's, controlling it
supposedly in OUR name! (And, for any nationalist nitpickers out
there, the "OUR" here refers to my American friend, not to me - though
as an inhabitant of the Earth, I feel it right to include myself too!)

All I wanted in the first place was to observe the Night Sky; to see
it unmolested by light pollution and interference from those who might
not share our interest in the Universe. Now it seems we must add to
that unhappy list those who occupy positions of power over ordinary
people - who want to control every aspect of our lives. Has this
unhealthy tendency got worse post 9/11? Or has it been in evidence for
longer? Whatever, it seems to me that there are many rather wider
issues worthy of debate in all of this: from the causes of light
pollution to fundamental principles of personal liberty - freedom to
pursue one's peaceful interests in natural places which are not under
the kind of control and exclusion akin to the past, vast Estates in
private ownership. One is reminded slightly of the Kinder Trespass.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/st...689869,00.html Have we
come full-circle?

As a footnote, a friend of mine was in Toronto Canada during the
recent East Coast Blackout. She told me that for the first time in
recent memory, residents of Toronto and its environs were exposed to
the majestic sight of the Milky Way (casting its reflection on the
ground by some accounts). Needless to say, there was AWE for a few
hours, followed by the return of the handful of stars visible when the
lights came back on!

Regards,

Anthony