From the Milky Way to meteor showers, the region is a stargazer's paradise.
The sunset glow on the snow-covered plateau is an enchanting opener for Tibet at night－a stargazer's paradise.
A Milky Way arch over Namtso Lake. (Photo/Xinhua)
Xiao Bei, a tour guide in Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region, takes out his mobile phone and opens an app of star charts to find where the Milky Way will appear. Then he takes his tour group to the best place to set up their cameras, waiting for the stars over the Himalayas.
The previous night, they knelt by a puddle to capture the reflection of stars and Mount Kailash, regarded as a sacred mountain by Tibetans. This night, they lie on the ground to see the occasional meteors flying over the ruins of the mysterious 1,000-year-old Guge Kingdom in Ngari Prefecture, in western Tibet.
Xiao Bei and his partners run an outdoor club, which has run stargazing tours for the past three years.
A Milky Way arch over Kangrinboqe Peak. The peak is said to be the center of the world in Buddhism. (Photo/Xinhua)
The Perseid meteor shower in August attracted about 70 clients. Most of them come from large cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, where stargazing is a luxury. In Tibet, many of them see the Milky Way for the first time in their lives and take their first photos of a starry sky.
In 2014, Xiao Bei accompanied experts from the Guangzhou Astronomical Society around Tibet to take photos of the starlit night. That was the first time he was astonished by the brilliance of the stars.
The experts told him they couldn't predict what the camera would capture.
Starlit sky over Yamdrok Lake. (Photo/Xinhua)
"That drew me in. It's a kind of exploration of the unknown. Although I spent a lot of time outdoors before, it was the first time I realized I should look up at the sky," he says.
It brought back childhood memories of lying in his grandma's arms looking at stars over the wheat fields in his hometown in East China's Shandong province.
"In my hometown, economic growth has improved living standards, but brought serious pollution. It's hard to see stars there now."
Stargazing at an astronomy lover camp near Yamdrok Lake. (Photo/Xinhua)
He began driving to dark places on clear nights to enjoy the splendor of the stars and had the idea to add astronomical aspects to his tours. "If tourists from economically developed regions enjoy the starry nights of Tibet, that's great."
He teaches the tourists how to recognize the constellations, take photos of the Milky Way, and tells the stories behind the stars.
He and his partners also run a small astronomy-themed hotel in Lhasa, capital of Tibet. Guests can observe the moon and planets through telescopes on the roof terrace.
Kou Wen, a senior engineer with the Beijing Planetarium, helped Xiao Bei to promote astronomy activities in Tibet. He says Tibet, with its high altitude, beautiful scenery, lack of air and light pollution, is an international attraction for stargazers.
As Chinese become richer and can afford high-end camerasand astronomical equipment, stargazing has grown in popularity, Kou says.
Traditionally, only high-ranking monks in Tibet were qualified to study astronomy. They believed that celestial bodies had mysterious influences on the earth. These were revealed through observing the stars.
Xiao Bei's activities also attract ordinary Tibetans. Once he set up a telescope near his home and was soon surrounded by dozens of people who were surprised to see the moon through the telescope.
Phuntsog, a commissioner of Ngari Prefectural Administrative Office, says the dark sky park will help the development of tourism.
"Poverty relief depends on education. A nation has no future if it is only concerned about things underfoot," Phuntsog says.
The bright clear sky of Tibet is also precious to scientists.
China has launched a project to detect primary gravitational waves in Ngari. Scientists also plan to conduct high-precision detection of cosmic rays and build China's largest optical telescope there.
Xue Suijian, deputy director of the National Astronomical Observatories of China, says China should utilize the unique geographical advantage of the "roof of the world" to build an astronomical base in Ngari.
Fascination with the stars is universal.
At the end of 2016, Xiao Bei accompanied a British documentary crew to shoot the night sky at Yamdrok Lake. The freezing cold made the British crew stamp their feet. But when a meteor flew overhead, they all jumped and gasped with joy.
Hong Kong resident Stanley Chow and his wife, carrying a lot of photographic and astronomical equipment, come to Tibet to photograph the Milky Way.
"In Hong Kong, we cannot see so many stars," Chow says.
Deng Junjie, a college student from South China's Guangdong province, suffered from altitude sickness on arriving in Tibet. But when he saw the countless stars in Ngari, he says, he felt his soul was cleansed.
Xiao Bei says stargazing, and recognizing the size of the universe, has calmed his irritable personality and made him want to learn more.
In poverty-stricken Ngari Prefecture, a dark sky park has been set up to protect the night sky for stargazers.
DALLAS (AP) — Jack Eichel and defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas got exactly what they anticipated, and withstood that early hard push in Game 2 by the desperate Dallas Stars.
The Golden Knights didn’t settle for a split while starting the first-round series on the road.
“We expected them to come out and push hard that first five, 10 minutes and they did,” Eichel said. “We responded. We were able to come in here after the first period and it’s all tied. ... They gave us all we could handle.”
Eichel assisted on the tying goal by Jonathan Marchessault late in the first period before adding an empty-netter late, Noah Hanifin scored the tiebreaker with unassisted goal late in the second period and the Knights won 3-1 on Wednesday night for a 2-0 series lead.
Game 3 is Saturday night in Las Vegas.
“We’re in a good spot, but there’s still a lot of hockey left to be played,” Hanifin said. “We’re happy to get back into our building and have that momentum on our side. ... Just got to keep doing what we’re doing, chipping away at it and play our game.”
Hanifin was one of the three trade-deadline acquisitions for the Knights, the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.
Marchessault’s second goal of the series was his franchise-record 36th in the postseason while appearing in all 90 of Vegas’ playoff games. Logan Thompson had 20 saves in his second career playoff start, though Dallas didn’t get a shot to him in the final 5:37 of the game.
In the Western Conference Final last May, the Knights were the top seed when winning the first three games against Dallas and eventually taking the series in six games.
After falling 4-3 in the opener of this first-round series, the Stars came out intent on setting a hard-hitting tone before the series shifted West.
Mason Marchment took defenseman Zach Whitecloud off his skates with a jarring hit behind the Vegas net only 2 1/2 minutes into the game. Knights captain Mark Stone ended up on the ice midway through the first period when it appeared that he was going to take a shot at Jason Robertson, who instead bowed up and delivered a body blow instead.
In the end, Dallas still couldn’t take down the Knights.
“Loved our first period. We make one mistake at the end of the first, probably deserved to be up. That was probably a critical point in the game,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “Eichel, the wrong guy gets behind us at the wrong time. And that’s what they do, they make you pay. So you come out of the first after playing a great period and you have nothing to show for it.”
Hanifin’s go-ahead goal with 1:07 left in the second period came after defenseman Esa Lindell blocked two shots in a row.
Robertson put Dallas up 1-0 with his second goal of the series, on a power play with 3:13 left in the first period. His 10th career playoff goal was his eighth against Vegas.
After Eichel’s shot went in the empty net late, Robertson broke his stick when he slammed it against the post.
The goal by Robertson came soon after Marchment whiffed at a loose puck that had popped off Thompson’s glove, and another scramble in front of the goalie when Roope Hintz was denied twice.
The Knights got even with 1:51 left in the first period on a charge when Eichel made a move that Jake Oettinger bit on. The goalie slipped down and Marchessault had an open side of the net after getting a nifty pass.
“We settled in eventually. You don’t want want 1-0 to turn into 2-0, so we did a good job with that,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Go into the intermission 1-1, we haven’t been our best, but we got through it.”
Oettinger had 23 saves, including a sequence in the second period when he knocked away three successive shots by Shea Theodore.
After his first shot was blocked, Theodore gathered the loose puck and tried a backhander on which Oettinger made a sprawling save, lunging to knock away the puck with his extended glove. The Knights defenseman got the puck again, skated around a couple of Stars and his third shot went off the goalie who was still laying on the ice at the edge of the crease.
That was during a 4-on-4 period after a scuffle in front of Oettinger when his teammate Ryan Suter threw Anthony Mantha down and both got roughing penalties.
Thomas had a couple of close-range saves right after that.
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
NHL linesman Trent Knorr (74) and players try to intervene as Dallas Stars defenseman Nils Lundkvist (5) and Vegas Golden Knights center Brett Howden (21) get tangled up during the second period in Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Stars defenseman Ryan Suter (20) and Vegas Golden Knights right wing Anthony Mantha (39) scuffle during the second period in Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Stars defenseman Ryan Suter (20) and Vegas Golden Knights right wing Anthony Mantha (39) exchange words after a scuffle during the second period in Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Vegas Golden Knights right wing Jonathan Marchessault (81) celebrates his first period goal in front of the Dallas Stars bench during Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Stars center Wyatt Johnston skates with the puck against the Vegas Golden Knights during the first period in Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Stars center Roope Hintz (24) chases the puck against the Vegas Golden Knights during the first period in Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Vegas Golden Knights right wing Jonathan Marchessault, right, celebrates his first period goal with goaltender Logan Thompson (36) during Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Dallas Stars in Dallas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Stars players celebrate a first period power play goal by Jason Robertson, not visible, during Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights in Dallas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Stars left wing Jason Robertson (21) is tripped up by Vegas Golden Knights left wing William Carrier (28) during Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Noah Hanifin slaps a scoring shot against the Dallas Stars during the second period in Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Vegas Golden Knights players surround Noah Hanifin after he scored against the Dallas Stars during the second period in Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Dallas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
