People, culture, late-night food.

人群、文化、宵夜美食。

But there's something missing.

但缺少了一些東西。

It's there, but you can't see it.

就在那，但你看不到。

The night sky.

夜空。

This is the story about a small town in Colorado.

這是一個有關科羅拉多州小鎮的故事。

Actually, two small towns in Colorado.

事實上，是兩個科羅拉多州的小鎮。

That are devoted to space.

兩個致力於太空觀測的小鎮。

Westcliffe has a population of 564 residents, and Silver Cliff has a population of 575.

韋斯特克利夫的人口數為 564 人，銀崖則是 575 人。

This used to be a mining community and then it evolved into a railroad community, and then into a ranching community.

這裡過去是個採礦的社區，然後變成鐵路社區，再後來變成牧場社區。

We're always looking to do something that will bring people into our community, and lately that seems to be we need to invest in our sky.

我們總是想要做些什麼，吸引人潮到我們的社區來。近年來，我們似乎需要把心思投入在天空上。

So they made light pollution their enemy.

所以他們視光害為敵人。

They darkened their towns so that the night sky could become their star attraction.

他們減少小鎮中的照明，讓這裡的夜空得以成為吸引人的璀燦星空。

Have you ever seen the Milky Way that goes from horizon to horizon?

你有看過從地平線的一端到另一端的銀河嗎？

88% of the world's population has never seen the Milky Way.

世界上 88% 的人從沒看過銀河。

It's the most magnificent thing in the world.

這是世界上最壯麗的東西了。

That's what we see here.

也是我們在這裡看到的東西。

But for the towns to go dark, they needed to cover all of their lights.

但為了讓小鎮變暗，他們需要遮蓋所有燈光。

Not just streetlamps, but the lights outside every house and ranch near town.

不只是路燈，還有所有屋外以及鄰近農場的燈光。

That wasn't easy.

這不容易。

This is a frontier town, and I can tell you, frontier people don't like being told what to do.

這是個離邊界很近的城鎮，而我可以告訴你，邊境的居民不喜歡別人告訴他們該做什麼。

We had to win their hearts and minds.

我們必須獲得他們的心、獲得他們的信任。

It took ten years.

這花了 10 年時間。

They passed ordinances, raised money to cover the streetlights, and even built an observatory.

他們通過了相關法令，集資來遮蓋街燈，甚至建造觀測台。

And the darker the town became, the more people saw the light.

而小鎮變得越暗，就有越多人能望見星光。

This year, the valley's dark sky was designated as one of the darkest in the world, drawing visitors from all over.

今年，這個山谷中的夜空被指名為世界上最暗的夜空之一，吸引眾多觀光客前來朝聖。

Okay.

好了。

Might need a six-pack though.

我們可能需要一位六塊腹肌壯丁 。

Well, I was really hopin' we'd be able to see Saturn by now.

我真的很希望現在就能看到土星。

Yeah, me too.

對，我也希望。

That a community would decide to dim its lights and help everyone to appreciate the beauty of the night sky is an amazing thing.

一個社區決定減少他們的燈光，幫助所有人欣賞這個美麗的夜空，是件很棒的事。

You come to a place like this and the stars just, burst, and it's remarkable.

你來到這樣一個地方，那些星星像爆發的煙火一樣遍佈夜空，真的很特別。

Not a lot of people are lucky enough to see the dark sky as our ancestors saw it.

沒有多少人像我們的祖先一樣幸運，能看到這樣的夜空。

And I feel that we're a very special place to be able to look at the stars as people did thousands of years ago.

我覺得我們是個很特別的地方，能夠看到這些星星，如同千年以前的人們看到的那樣。

It's a humbling thing.

你會覺得自己很渺小。

Suddenly you realize you can almost touch it and you're now a part of the bigger universe.

你突然意識到你幾乎可以碰到它，你現在成了浩瀚宇宙的一部分。

And so it's just a wonderful experience to see the dark skies.

所以得以看見這樣的夜空，是個非常美好的體驗。

That's what we're trying to preserve.

這就是我們努力想維護的東西。