Arizona Gained Another Dark Sky Park
When young, did you enjoy looking up at the night sky and being amazed by all the stars overhead? As a youngster, I lived where there were few nighttime lights. This made the night sky crystal clear and all the stars and planets highly visible. I loved going outside and gazing up at the starry sky. As an adult, I live in a town with many nighttime lights and a lot of dust pollution from farming and our desert. This has sadly diminished my view of the stars overhead.
Preserving as much visibility of the night sky as possible is the mission of the Dark Sky organization. Founded in Arizona, in 2001, it is a voluntary program that encourages communities, parks, cities, and other areas around the world to protect their dark skies from light pollution and to earn a “Dark Sky” certification. When a location meets the Dark Sky Association’s criteria for nighttime lighting, it can be certified as an official Dark Sky location and will be listed on its website (darksky.org).
Dark Sky’s goal is to bring awareness of the need to control light pollution and encourage locations worldwide to minimize nighttime lighting.
Flagstaff was the first Dark Sky City certified by Dark Sky. Since then, Sedona, Big Park Village in Oak Creek, Camp Verde, Thunder Mountain Pootseey Nightsky – Kaibab Paiute Reservation, and Fountain Hills have been certified. Saguaro National Park recently gained a Dark Sky Park certification, bringing the number of certified Arizona parks to eleven.
World-class astronomical research programs surround Tucson. Telescopes are located on Kitt Peak, Mount Graham, Mount Lemmon, and Mount Hopkins. By monitoring light pollution, Tucson and surrounding areas, such as Saguaro National Park, are helping astronomers have a clear view of the night sky.
Besides lowering nighttime visibility, outdoor lighting impacts the lives of creatures who are out and about at night. Lights can also disrupt nighttime migratory patterns.
With seventeen dark sky certifications, Arizona has the most dark sky locations of any state. To date, there are 210 dark sky locations worldwide.
Contact amber@darksky.org for more information.
By Karen Bowen. Karen is a member of the Yuma Orchid and African Violet Society, is a master gardener, and is the Pacific Region Butterfly Chairman.