SKYGLOW: Night-sky homage to America's indigenous stargazers
Harun Mehmedinovic of the SKYGLOW project shares with Boing Boing this latest video from their project celebrating the beauty and importance of keeping the night skies dark.
SKYGLOW's Harun tells Boing Boing:
We just released this latest SKYGLOW video visiting North America's best petroglyph and ruins, including those of Paiute tribe in California and the Ancestral Puebloans of the Southwest.
Scattered across the United States, from the Southwest, all the way to Hawai'i, ancient astronomy petroglyphs and archaeoastronomy structures sit weathering in the landscape.
Carved and built by diverse group of tribes, from Native Hawaiians, to the Paiutes of Bishop, California, and the Ancestral Puebloans of the Southwest, these petroglyphs and structures reflect the long standing interest in Ancient Astronomy which grew stronger as many of the tribes went from the Hunter Gatherer to the Agrarian societal orders.
From references to the Sun carved in the rock, and interest in using the Sun to predict seasons (entire buildings built to essentially serve as sundials and calendars, a critical element in the farming communities) to those of 13 moons (lunar annual calendar), to carvings of stars and constellations, interest in celestial bodies is ever present across the indigenous communities of the United States.
The video also features 2018's epic Lunar Eclipse, a.k.a. "Blood Moon," seen at 1:03.
You can view the video here, and see more high resolution photos from the film here.
SKYGLOW (skyglowproject.com) is an "ongoing crowdfunded quest to explore the effects and dangers of urban light pollution in contrast with some of the most incredible dark sky areas in North America," the founders tell BoingBoing.
Their project is a collaboration with International Dark-Sky Association (darksky.org), a non-profit fighting for the preservation of night skies around the globe.
More detail about the video, below:
Locations:
Wupatki National Monument, Arizona
Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico
Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico
Bishop, California-------
The film was shot on Canon 5DIV cameras & lenses sponsored by Canon USA, aided by Alpine Labs' Michron & Pulse, powered by Paul C. Buff Vagabond Mini. LRTimelapse was used to process some of the shots. Adobe Lightroom and Premiere were used for editing and processing.
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ANCESTRAL NIGHTS Photo Stills: https://bit.ly/30M7g6Y
SKYGLOW Book Stills: http://bit.ly/2vXO7Ag
Other Photos from SKYGLOWPROJECT.COM: https://bit.ly/2qXCjtG-------
Credits:
Directors/Producers/Shooters: Harun Mehmedinovic & Gavin Heffernan
Editor: Harun Mehmedinovic
Music: Richard Lacy & Jeff Dale