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Posted by ChrisArchitect 2 days ago

Charles Ross spent 50 yrs building Star Axis naked-eye observatory in New Mexico(www.nytimes.com)
80 points | 16 comments
cratermoon 2 days ago|
https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/ reports the area rates a 2 "average dark sky" on the Bortle scale, just short of an "excellent" score of 1. It's location halfway between Santa Rosa and Las Vegas, New Mexico is as far from populated areas as you might think.
vjvjvjvjghv 22 minutes ago|
I live in Albuquerque and within 2 hours you get the darkest skies you can imagine. Put that together with the average elevation and the dryness and the views are spectacular.
xtiansimon 3 hours ago||
On a personal note I used to love stargazing in the mountains of California’s Sierra Nevada mountains as a child. Sort of lost some of the magic when I started needing to wear prescription eyeglasses.
ilamont 4 hours ago||
Unfortunately, the article says that you basically need to be rich in order to experience this work of art: “Today, donors can pay a thousand dollars or more to visit with a small group, or sponsor a stair for six figures.”

It sounds like there may be liability issues as well for people visiting in the dark. The article mentioned the state legislature of New Mexico evaluated a plan to purchase it, but abandoned it.

teraflop 2 hours ago|
The official website (https://www.staraxis.org/) has this to say:

> Fundraising is currently underway to complete construction this year and plan for the future of Star Axis. Star Axis will not open to the public for several years. Thank you for your patience.

> Your contribution to our fundraising campaign will provide opportunities for you to visit Star Axis between June and September 2026.

Which seems to hint that they're not planning to keep the current pricing model indefinitely. Hopefully it becomes more affordable once the construction has been fully paid for.

On the other hand, just looking at the pictures, it seems like the site might get pretty crowded if there were a significant number of visitors per day. So I guess there needs to be some kind of gatekeeping to prevent congestion. But maybe the remote location is enough to do that.

vjvjvjvjghv 21 minutes ago||
I don't think it would get too crowded. There really isn't much else going on in that area and not much population either.
fathermarz 4 hours ago||
And in 5,000 years, they will say. “They must have worshipped this star to create such a monument around it, showing how connected to the stars this ancient civilization was”
antonvs 1 hour ago|
Exactly. Egyptologists have long overlooked the “built by an obsessed artist” theory of the pyramids.
vjvjvjvjghv 24 minutes ago||
I have similar thoughts about cave paintings and petroglyphs. Maybe they were done by graffiti teenagers and the elders were complaining about these young vandals.
ChrisArchitect 2 days ago||
non-paywall: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/22/arts/design/charles-ross-...
fnord77 2 hours ago||
Abydos?
Chris2048 6 hours ago||
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Axis
ck2 5 hours ago|
good luck if that startup gets to put up hundreds of space mirrors for nighttime daylight

Dr.Becky had a good rant about it this week in the middle of her episode lol

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr52wOlyOaM

her knowledge + enthusiasm is infectious, love it

natosaichek 38 minutes ago||
They're only shining on people who pay for it. I am opposed to light pollution, but reflect is not a threat to anyone who likes dark skies.
hunter-gatherer 2 hours ago|||
The crazy thing is that we'll all just continue to sit back and let these sort of things happen, only screaming to each other on the internet about it, doing little to nothing.
UltraSane 1 hour ago||
Those mirrors will get so much pushback.