Field notes

Working things out in public.

Mostly arguments we have already had internally, written down so guests can check them.

What Bortle 1 actually means

Every lodge within a thousand kilometres claims a dark sky. Almost none of them have measured it, and the number is easy to take.

14 May 2026 · Ines Marchetti

2 March 2026

It was in the first set of drawings. It came out, and taking it out cost more than building it would have.

19 January 2026

Not tradition, and not romance. Arithmetic.

8 November 2025

We publish the cloud figure because the number is good. Here is how it is counted, so you can check it against anywhere else.