The gift in the heavens

We are in the 1 percent, folks.

At least, many of us in the rural Dakotas are, when the thing being measured is our view of the night sky.

That’s according to a study published in the journal Science Advances in June, which found that 99 percent of people in the United States live under light-polluted skies.

“The Milky Way is hidden from more than one-third of humanity, including 60% of Europeans and nearly 80% of North Americans,” according to the abstract of “The new world atlas of artificial night sky brightness.”

When it comes to having a view that allows us to contemplate our place in the universe, we are truly in an exceptional place.

— Heidi Marttila-Losure

This photo was shot by Parkston, S.D., photographer Nicole Heitzman, along the Missouri River, near Platte, S.D., in July. She writes, “Night time summer skies are exceptional at the Missouri River, where there is little light pollution. We enjoy camping at the River. The night skies are an added bonus when fishing in the dark. One simply cannot not ask for anything more beautiful!”