I was excited to hear that there is another town committed to keeping the night skies dark!
I’ve been to Flagstaff, Arizona, which is also a dark sky community, because of the Lowell Observatory.
It would be cool to live here for awhile : )
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From: psmag.com
Starry, Starry Skies
California desert town takes back the night, wins rare “Dark Sky” award
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.”
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