What Are Dark Sky Places and Why They Are Important
It's Not Just About the Views - Letters from a Wanderer No 22
Hello everyone and welcome to another issue of Letters from a Wanderer!
Thank you for being here!
Since I often wander - or travel to - dark sky places, especially on camping trips, I also tend to write about them. I have a bit of a background in stargazing, as well, thanks to my husband, which helps make me aware of the importance of dark skies and the sad reality of their disappearance.
As a natural optimist though, I also notice how people are more and more aware of their importance. During my recent travels, both a short camping trip to a dark sky National Park, and a visit to the Oregon Coast, especially on quieter beaches with less light pollution, got me thinking of dark skies, and how our ancestors saw more stars than we ever will.
So, instead of a travelogue, today’s post is about dark sky places and their importance in our surroundings. We are not the only ones who need them.
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Dark sky places are areas with minimal light pollution, great places for stargazing, watching stars, constellations, galaxies, nebulae, and as much as possible from our planet. As we live in brighter and brighter environments, few of them exist, hence the importance of the term itself.
As dark skies were disappearing, their importance became more evident. The night sky and nocturnal environment are naturally, culturally, and historically important resources worthy of conservation.
I’ve never seen the night sky as clear, as beautiful as during my first camping trip through the Southwest, over thirty years ago, in 1993. Newlyweds, just moved to Arizona, with pennies in our pockets, my husband and I could only afford to camp during our first vacation.
The first night we camped in Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, I noticed the Milky Way stretching across the sky, filled with millions of stars.
That trip inspired me to look up to the sky more often. And, outside of the city, it was always worth it.
No wonder, since Arizona and the American Southwest, also including New Mexico, and parts of Utah, Colorado, and California, is mostly desert. The dry, crisp air here makes the skies clearer (the water particles that define humidity amplify light pollution). The long stretches of areas with no urban development added to the low humidity makes the Southwest one of the best places for stargazing.
Inspired by the clear skies, we joined a local astronomy club.
We attended star parties, where we drove out of town to remote areas and met up with other members. Those who had them, would bring telescopes and we would all watch the celestial objects through them.
We spent full nights camping out in the middle of the desert, far from civilization, often freezing with our blankets on our backs, watching the night sky. Sometimes, we would crawl out from our warm sleeping bags to find a few people who never even went to bed, still watching constellations that rose at three or four in the morning.
We took a telescope mirror making class, where I made a 6-inch mirror, then we built a telescope around it. We still have “my” small telescope, but rarely ever take it out.
Our interests changed when we became parents, we lost contact with the astronomy club. But we still appreciate the dark sky, and understand the importance of preserving it. Especially since we no longer see the stars from the city. The site we once held star parties in town is now surrounded by a mall, a museum, hotels, and apartment buildings, not to mention a highway. So, we need to go farther and farther to see clear skies.
It isn’t just astronomers and those of us who like the dark skies who are affected by light pollution. Our annoyance is the least of the problem.
Light pollution hurts the environment.
Plant and animal life on earth depend on earth’s cycle of night and day for survival. With all the lights we put up at night, we disrupted this cycle.
Nocturnal animals sleep during the day and are active at night. By turning night time as bright as day, we disrupt their cycle. An example I read about is the baby turtles hatching at night. Normally, they would follow the dim light above the ocean, once out of their shell. Instead, they now follow artificial lights in the cities, leading them away from the ocean, causing millions of them to die.
Light pollution is partially responsible for the frog population decreasing. Frogs and toads use night time and the dark for their mating rituals. Artificial lights disrupt their habits, which eventually reduces their population.
Migratory birds also suffer from the light pollution problem, since they navigate by moonlight and starlight. Artificial lights cause them to wonder off course and often collide with illuminated towers.
These are only a few obvious examples of how artificial lights disrupt and change natural habits of living creatures besides ourselves. We can’t sleep well with our lights on, either, we are even disrupting our own internal clocks, though we are so used to this, we don’t even notice.
During most of the human history the night sky filled with starts inspired and taught us. Yet, we can find very few places on earth where we can see the night sky the way our ancestors did, or even the way artists saw it a century ago.
The dark sky that inspired Van Gogh to paint Starry Night in San Rémy, in 1889, is no longer the same. If he was in the same spot today, he would not see all those stars as clearly.
Living in a city, we have to drive hundreds of miles to find a patch of dark sky that allows us to see the Milky Way. We have good telescopes, but can’t see much through them besides the planets and the moon. The telescope I made and others are gathering dust in our garage, because it’s not worth taking them out.
Yet, there is hope. Maybe not to fully reverse the effects of light pollution, but at least to keep it at a minimum.
Considering the clear skies of the desert, it is no wonder that it was here, in Arizona, in Flagstaff, where the International Dark Sky Association started the International Dark Sky Places Program in 2001 to encourage communities, parks, and protected areas to preserve them. Flagstaff was the first International Dark Sky Place, with many more following since.
Besides designating dark sky places, the program offers public education about responsible lighting.
International Dark Sky Places are all over the world, and include Dark Sky Parks, Reserves, Sanctuaries, Urban Night Sky Places, and Communities.
Of course, dark sky communities will never be as dark as Dark Sky Sanctuaries or Parks in the middle of nowhere. The criteria is different for them, and it relies in a large part on community education. Dark Sky Communities are towns that prove their commitment to keep their light pollution to a minimum.
Even in towns, it is possible to use lighting in a responsible way, where a dark sky is still possible, where you could take out your telescope and see the Orion nebula the ancient Maya considered the hearth of the world.
In Flagstaff, the very first dark sky town ever designated as such, you can walk at night in almost any neighborhood, and see the stars, not artificial lights.
We can all do our part in reducing light pollution, even if we don’t think about it every day. It is as simple as only using light when we need it and where we need it.
We should use the same principles as dark sky communities.
First and foremost, we should only use lighting when and where we need it. This doesn’t necessarily mean we should keep our house dark after the sun goes down. Our lifestyle changed to the point where we stay up late, and we need artificial lights. But it is easy enough to only turn on lights in the rooms we are using, and turn them off as soon as we leave.
Porch lights should only illuminate the area they need to. When they scatter light in all directions, they add to light pollution. However, the outdoor light fixtures with shields directing the light downward, only where needed, minimize light pollution.
Keeping our blinds drawn when we turn on the lights also helps minimize light pollution in the street. Besides, if you’d turn the lights on and your blings are open, anyone who passes by can see you. So this measure is as much for privacy as for keeping light pollution from your street.
The color of the light also matters. Blue light brightens the sky more than any other color light, so it is important to choose a different color. According to researchers from Harvard Medical School, blue light is also the most harmful for human health, so this measure helps us, too.
Unlike most other pollution and environmental problems, light pollution is relatively easy (or easier) to fix. All it really takes is awareness. And spreading this awareness. Many people don’t know or don’t understand the importance of dark skies for our health and our environment. Talking about it, pointing them to the right places to learn about it, we can spread the word.
Probably the best way to make people care is by taking them to a dark sky place, to see the difference.
And for the fun part, find a dark sky park or other dark sky place, away from city lights, camp out and watch an incredible show after the sun and the moon set. Enjoy watching the Milky Way and all the celestial objects as you can probably never see it in your own back yard (unless you live far from any communities).
Thank you for reading this issue of Letters from a Wanderer! I hope I inspired you to go out to a dark sky place and enjoy the starry night - with or without a telescope. If you are in - or visit - Arizona, here is a list of dark sky places in the state:
Wishing you all the best, and happy stargazing!
Emese
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When I first moved to Flagstaff, I remember distinctly noticing how dark the city was when I drove or walked at night. I had to go buy a flashlight to keep in my car whenever I needed to be out at night because it was so hard to see!