International Dark-Sky Week 1 - 8 April
The first week of April celebrates International Dark Sky Week (IDSW). It’s a great time to host a neighborhood star party and introduce the idea of preserving a dark night sky to your community. A poster child example is the community of Harmony, Florida with their Dark Sky Festival on April 9. The main goal of IDSW is to raise awareness of the value of maintaining dark skies. Another goal of IDSW is to encourage efficient use of outdoor lighting. That is, lighting that lights where you need it, when you need it, and for amount of time it's needed. So if you participate, and you encourage your friends, relatives, and neighbors to participate, that could make a difference in the quality of the night sky and inspire those around us to preserve its beauty. The key to the success of International Dark-Sky week is participation. The more people there are that turn out their lights, the less light pollution there will be. How can you help the cause? First and foremost, turn out your outdoor lights during the week if this is possible. Also, encourage friends and neighbors to participate as well because it is certainly difficult to see the benefits of turning out your porch lights when the neighbor's lights are blinding you. This is also very important because only one house with the lights off will not make a difference. Many people must participate. Finally, find out if there are any star parties or events at a local observatory during the week and attend them with friends or family. If there are no events in your area, you can start one or you can simply dust off the old telescope from the attic and enjoy the best show the universe has to offer from your own backyard.
More ideas for participating in Dark-Sky Week
Important note about safety: Do not turn off lights that are necessary for public safety such as busy parking lots or busy walk ways. Hopefully these fixtures will eventually utilize the proper kind of lighting, but whether they are or not, they are important for avoiding accidents. When stargazing, carry a red-tinted flashlight so that you can see where you are going without losing your night vision. Also, it is best to go in groups when stargazing in a dark area.
Now is a great time to look into purchasing dark-sky friendly lighting. Please visit Night Sky Friendly Outdoor Lighting for more information on dark-sky lighting.
Visit IDSW website for more information.