• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

What Is A “Dark Sky Island”?

August 24, 2024 by Deborah Bloomfield

The island of Sark, which sits in the English Channel, is well-known for its quirks; you’re more likely to see someone there riding a horse than driving, thanks to a ban on cars. It has one unique trait that stands out, above the rest, however – back in 2011, it became the world’s first-ever Dark Sky Island. But what exactly does that mean?

Advertisement

Staying in the dark

Remember when it seemed like everyone and their uncle saw Aurora a couple of months back? That wasn’t entirely the case – some people living in places like large towns and cities had trouble making it out in the sky.

The reason? It may well have been down to light pollution and being designated a Dark Sky Island is in recognition of taking steps to tackle such a problem.

It’s one of a number of titles given out by the International Dark Sky Places (IDSP) program to “areas and communities around the world certified by DarkSky International to meet strict criteria for protection of the night sky and minimization of light pollution through responsible lighting policies and public education.”

To become a Dark Sky Place – there are Communities, Sanctuaries, and Reserves, to name a few – criteria include having a sky quality above a particular level of luminance (a measure of the sky’s brightness), where the area is (is it remote or well-populated?), and the level of access the public has at night.

night sky

Take a decent camera to a Dark Sky Place and you could nab a picture like this.

Image credit: Esterg/Shutterstock.com

Protecting the night sky

But what’s the point of such a certification? “The night sky and nocturnal environment are naturally, culturally, and historically important resources worthy of conservation,” says DarkSky, the organization running the program.

Advertisement

As anyone who missed out on the aurora can bear witness to, one of the issues that come from avoiding conservation is missing out on seeing the night sky, a long important part of human culture that’s helped us to navigate, understand more about our universe, and give us something rather pretty to look at.

Then there’s the impact that light pollution has on Earth’s ecosystems. Chad Moore, who co-founded the US National Parks Night Skies Program told DarkSky: “When we add light to the environment, that has the potential to disrupt habitat, just like running a bulldozer over the landscape can.”

It’s a problem that’s becoming all the more apparent with reports of birds flying into brightly lit buildings, leaves becoming harder for insects to eat, and turtle hatchlings losing their way on their journey to the sea.

By creating dark sky oases and incorporating public access and education as part of that, it’s hoped that greater attention will be brought to the threats facing successful conservation, and see-it-yourself examples of why protection is so important.

Advertisement

To learn more about how astronomers are stepping up to protect the night sky, check out IFLScience’s exclusive interview with key figures at the 32nd General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union.

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. Amazon’s cashierless ‘Just Walk Out’ tech is coming to Whole Foods stores
  2. UK’s Ocado invests in Wayve for autonomous grocery deliveries
  3. Incredible New JWST Image Looks Like Art – What Does It Actually Show?
  4. Green Parrots Rub Against Plants For Parasite Protection – And Probably Also To Get High

Source Link: What Is A “Dark Sky Island”?

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • Purple Earth Hypothesis: Our Planet Was Not Blue And Green Over 2.4 Billion Years Ago
  • Hippos Hung Around In Europe 80,000 Years Later Than We Thought
  • Officially Gone: Slender-Billed Curlew, Once-Widespread Migratory Bird, Declared Extinct By IUCN
  • Watch: Rare Footage Captures Freaky Faceless Cusk Eels Lurking On The Deep-Sea Floor
  • Watch This Funky Sea Pig Dancing Its Way Through The Deep Sea, Over 2,300 Meters Below The Surface
  • NASA Lets YouTuber Steve Mould Test His “Weird Chain Theory” In Space
  • The Oldest Stalagmite Ever Dated Was Found In Oklahoma Rocks, Dating Back 289 Million Years
  • 2024’s Great American Eclipse Made Some Birds Behave In Surprising Ways, But Not All Were Fooled
  • “Carter Catastrophe”: The Math Equation That Predicts The End Of Humanity
  • Why Is There No Nobel Prize For Mathematics?
  • These Are The Only Animals Known To Incubate Eggs In Their Stomachs And Give “Birth” Out Their Mouths
  • Constipated? This One Fruit Could Help, Says First-Ever Evidence-Led Diet Guidance
  • NGC 2775: This Galaxy Breaks The Rules Of “Galactic Evolution” And Baffles Astronomers
  • Meet The “Four-Eyed” Hirola, The World’s Most Endangered Antelope With Fewer Than 500 Left
  • The Bizarre 1997 Experiment That Made A Frog Levitate
  • There’s A Very Good Reason Why October 1582 On Your Phone Is Missing 10 Days
  • Skynet-1A: Military Spacecraft Launched 56 Years Ago Has Been Moved By Persons Unknown
  • There’s A Simple Solution To Helping Avoid Erectile Dysfunction (But You’re Not Going To Like It)
  • Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS May Be 10 Billion Years Old, This Rare Spider Is Half-Female, Half-Male Split Down The Middle, And Much More This Week
  • Why Do Trains Not Have Seatbelts? It’s Probably Not What You Think
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version