Botswana
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There are sunsets, and then there are African
sunsets. Botswana has what may be the most transparent
skies of any landlocked area on Earth. The nation is
essentially unpopulated--fewer than 1.5 million people in an
area larger than Texas with most in a few urban centres. Unlike
central Australia, there is abundant humidity and precipitation
to clear the air of dust. This is a Botswana sunset...the land
extends to the horizon and the cosmos reveals its infinite
depth above. Indeed...not long after sunset the pellucid skies
of Botswana render the zodiacal light almost bright enough to
read a newspaper, the Magellenic clouds obvious, and the bulge
at the centre of our galaxy apparent at the slightest glance.
So transparent is the sky that on the previous day I spotted
Venus
in broad daylight, clearly visible against the
blue sky just before noon.
by John Walker
July, 2001
This document is in the public domain.
