California desert town takes back the night, wins rare "Dark Sky" award.

[SoCalDem]

The “right to starlight”:
The resort town of Borrego Springs, Calif.
has pledged to protect the dark skies of
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, where the
Milky Way can still be seen at night.(c) Dennis Mammana/dennismammana.com



Science & Environment
Starry, Starry Skies
http://www.miller-mccune.com/science_environment/starry-starry-skies-1696
California desert town takes back the night, wins rare "Dark Sky" award.

By: Melinda Burns | December 24, 2009 | 09:05 AM


The “right to starlight”: The resort town of Borrego Springs, Calif. has pledged to protect the dark skies of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, where the Milky Way can still be seen at night.(c) Dennis Mammana/dennismammana.com

If the Star of Bethlehem, that "star with royal beauty bright," were to appear this Christmas, it would be obliterated in most of the world by an orange halo of glary city light. Light pollution — the artificial sky glow that dims the stars — now affects 63 percent of the world's population and 99 percent of people living in European Union and continental United States, according to some estimates. The Milky Way is not visible in most cities, much less a meteor shower, Orion's shield, or, in the biggest cities, the North Star.

"The sky is fading," says a report this month in Physics Today. "... Does the vista of a star-filled night matter only to astronomers?"

In Borrego Springs, population 2,500, located in the remote Anza-Borrego Desert of Southern California, it matters to the whole town. Borrego recently became only the second "International Dark Sky Community" in the world, meaning it has exceptionally starry night skies and is dedicated to keeping them that way. We protect the desert, and now we're protectors of the sky," said Dennis Mammana, a local astronomer and photographer. "Borrego is not just a daytime place. We're a celestial preserve."

A coalition of six determined people — a representative from the Palomar Observatory in northern San Diego County and five Borregans, including Mammana — worked two years to win a "Dark Sky Community" designation this summer from the International Dark-Sky Association, a Tucson-based nonprofit group. The association's 53 chapters lobby the United Nations, the U.S. Congress, the European Union, local cities, counties, states, businesses — anyone who will listen — for reductions in sky glare.

"Light pollution is an environmental change that people have witnessed in their lifetimes," said Chad Moore, an association member who serves as the National Park Service night sky program manager. "Light domes from big cities can now be seen 200 miles away. These are parts of the sky that die." Dark-sky supporters argue that the natural night sky is vital for astronomers and essential for people's sense of well-being. An unpolluted night sky would obviously cut down on energy waste and global warming, and, as previously reported in Miller-McCune, could provide some health benefits, too.

snip

[Cetacea]

1. That is so sad.

I wonder about children who have never smelled truly fresh air, and who cannot look up at the sky at night and see the outer rims of our galaxy.

[SoCalDem]

2. But they know every Taco Bell commercial by heart

:(

[Cetacea]

5. ...

So true.

[Chemisse]

3. Good for them

For many years I thought I was the only one who was upset about the loss of the night sky. It is comforting to see others take action.

[begin_within]

4. I'm glad they are doing that,

We go out there a couple times of year (not specifically to Borrego Springs but to an area just a few miles south). We don't even go for the stargazing specifically but that's one of the benefits of being there at night. The view of the stars out there is fabulous, probably the best that I've seen that wasn't at a high elevation. In fact Borrego Springs is almost at sea level (elevation 597 feet). The view of the stars is better at the top of Palomar Mountain, where the historic observatory is, but it's freezing cold up there and requires a drive on a windy mountain road. At Anza-Borrego I have seen the Milky Way clearly almost every time I've been out there, unless there were clouds. I saw the Hale-Bopp comet clearly. Satellites are easily visible, and meteors are too when they happen. The Chocolate Mountains to the east of that area are still a bombing test area for the Navy and Marines, and if you're lucky once in a while you see a sudden huge orange glow in the sky over them when they are dropping bombs for practice. But that's just a freak show. The desert sky at night out there is and is very easy to get to, no mountain driving required. I'm glad to hear they are trying to preserve it.

[Le Taz Hot]

6. K & R

for the beautiful heavens and beautiful California desert. As Molly Ivins used to say, "Good on 'em!"

[marybourg]

7. A magical place, where you feel you're truly walking on the surface

of a planet. More Californians should visit.

[earth mom]

8. Way cool!

:thumbsup:

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. Flagstaff, AZ does this too. Home of Lowell Observatory.

And I found this interesting piece: How I Beat Light Pollution in My Hometown http://www.skyandtelescope.com/resources/darksky/How_I_Beat_Light_Pollution_in_My_Hometown.html?showAll=y&c=y

[SoCalDem]

10. Flagstaff is #1..Borrego #2.. Las vegas must be # -1000

:)

[LWolf]

11. I'm glad to hear it.

I can still see a brilliant, star-lit sky from my home. We generally don't use any street lights on any roads outside the city limits. The local city to the south has grown enough to get complaints from the local observatory, but we're still able to see the milky way easily from outside city limits.

Light and noise pollution, as well as other pollution, comes with overpopulation. I hope there will still be less populated areas for me in my lifetime, and I hope humanity will address their own rampant over-breeding before the planet is one giant sphere of crowded concrete.