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HomeMy WebLinkAboutA008 - Dark Sky Institute Information TEN OFTEN ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE DARK SKY INSTITUTE, INC. AND DARK SKY 2020 1. What is the Dark Sky Institute, Inc. and Dark Sky 2020? The Dark Sky Institute, Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c) (3) educational and scientific entity formed in 1999 to promote dark skies and control wasted light shining up into the sky. Dark Sky 2020 is one part of the Institute devoted to restoring a dark night sky over America using positive methods. 2. What is the overall purpose of Dark Sky 2020? Nature intended the night sky to be dark and full of stars. Unfortunately, the sky is not as dark as it used to be. Wasted light from improperly designed and used lighting fixtures shines up into the sky and conceals the cosmos, especially in urban areas. Dark Sky 2020 is dedicated to restoring a dark night sky over America and saving the stars from extinction. 3. What is the short term goal of Dark Sky 2020? To develop awareness by making Dark Sky 2020 and its goals recognized in every American household. 4. What is the long term goal of Dark Sky 2020? To persuade individuals, businesses, and communities to create and implement voluntarily lightscapes that will restore a dark night sky over America by the year 2020. 5. Who is the target audience for Dark Sky 2020? Every person in America for the short term goal and every person eager to help accomplish the long term goal. 6. What mechanisms, processes, techniques, methods, technology, etc., will be used to accomplish the goals of Dark Sky 2020? Every reasonable and proper mass media, multimedia, and nonmedia method and device available, such as advertising, marketing, polls, surveys, radio/television commercials, public service announcements, newspaper/magazine ads, interviews, lectures, handouts, brochures, word-of-mouth, Web sites, etc. 7. Is Dark Sky 2020 trademarked and copyrighted? All Dark Sky 2020 material, the idea, logos, slogans, mottoes, designs, products, plans, lightscapes, etc., are trademarked, will be registered, and are copyrighted for appropriate use. & Who will be responsible for Dark Sky 2020? Jack Troeger will be the Executive Director, -responsible for managing and marketing Dark Sky 2020. Other qualified and committed people will be hired to complete the dail o erations if adequate funding becomes available. 9. How will Dark Sky 2020 be funded? Funding will be obtained through local and national funding organizations and foundations and through individual contributors, donors, benefactors, etc. We will also create Dark Sky 2020 products and introduce an "adopt-a- star, -planet, -nebula, -galaxy, -cluster, -constellation, -comet..." fund-raising project. When possible, a full or part time fund-raising staff will be hired. 10. How will Dark Skv 2020 be assessed or evaluated? Funding amounts will determine the assessment and evaluation techniques used. As funding permits the corporation will use independent agencies to create quantitative measurement tools. In the beginning assessment will be completed with scientific surveys and polls where possible and anecdotal data from individuals and organizations. The Essence of LPrk-4A' Y2020,,., What pops into your mind when you see or hear the words Milky Way? Mmmmm, a sweet, chewy, chocolate bar, right? But wait, there's another Milky Way that is nearly extinct; and extinction is foreve,. It's a very special Milky Way, a milky stream of stars that arches across the dark night sky. Have you ever seen the Milky Way in a truly dark night sky? Did you know that most American youngsters have never seen it? What a shame, because few things in life can take your breath away like the view of a truly dark night sky. Please, help save the sky and the stars. Dark Sky 2020TM (twenty-twenty) is my nonprofit enterprise resolved to restore a dark night sky over America by the year 2020. My goal is to persuade people politely to use dark sky-friendly nighttime lighting. To succeed in our endeavor, we do not advocate turning lights off or using "brute force, do-it-or-else" lighting laws, codes, and ordinances. Instead, we believe communities and businesses will voluntarily restore the night sky to darkness because it is in their best interest. A naive notion? No. In less than two years, Dark Sky 2020,. has already shielded enough of Ames' nighttime lighting to rescue the Milky Way and make it visible for the first time in a decade. Pesky lighting laws, codes, regulations, and ordinances force people and businesses to act, often generating adversarial relationships and "bad feelings." A loophole-free lighting ordinance that serves every future situation is impossible to write. And most lighting codes have a grandfather clause that makes all current lighting "off limits." Worst of all, lighting laws are difficult to enforce ($$$$ and time) and have been repealed, creating wasted money, bitterness, and anger. Future lighting has less impact on the dark night sky than current lighting. The night sky is not dark now because of the lights already in existence. True, we need to guide future lighting; but more importantly, we need to gently, tactfully, politely motivate and inspire everyone involved to fix current lighting gradually. Dark Sky 2020,. is designed to cooperate with business and community people. The Dark Sky 2020TM team has invented a plan that is applicable to any city or town in America. Dark Sky 2020TM recognizes that every community and business has its own character, identity, and personality; and that one lighting law cannot satisfy every community's needs. A standardized, national nighttime lighting code would solve part of the problem, but creating a national code is quite unrealistic; and without a national code, businesses would be overwhelmed by thousands of dissimilar lighting ordinances. How could a national chain like McDonald's, for example, be expected to satisfy thousands of different lighting codes in thousands of towns and cities nationwide? There must be a better way. i Dark Sky 202k believes each community and business should have the freedom to create a unique, dark sky-friendly nighttime LIGHTSCAPE. Imagine, for example, McDonald's (or any company) creating and testing a experimental dark sky-friendly lighting project in a community like Ames, Iowa. Because their pilot project design would be inherently dark-sky friendly, it would fit in any community, with or without a lighting ordinance. And remember, dark-sky friendly does NOT mean lights must be turned off or that lights are "bad." Over time each McDonald's restaurant is remodeled and modernized. Now, imagine McDonald's restaurants nationwide being gradually updated to reflect the company's dark-sky friendly philosophy. And imagine the powerful advertising message McDonald's could use at every restaurant: "More than 100 zillion sold in a dark-sky friendly environment." Imagine your community at night bathed in the soft glow of an aesthetically pleasing, dark sky-friendly LIGHTSCAPE distinctively designed to decorate and promote your community and your business, while overhead the sky is awash with the splendor of a zillion stars. Dark Sky 2020TM is more than just the year twenty-twenty. It is a definitive, viable VISION of America under a dark night sky sprinkled with twinkling stars for every child to linger below, dream under, and wish upon. Dark Sky 2020,. is for the future and for the children. Americans waste more than $1 billion each year lighting the night sky and concealing our birthright--the stars. We can do better! Dark Sky 2020TM succeeds because of our nonconfrontational approach. We use good, old-fashioned common sense to help businesses and communities focus nighttime lighting directly on their targets of security while saving them MONEY. The Dark Sky 2020., team is steadfastly devoted to a positive approach. We publicly reward and complement good lighting, but we do NOT publicize, belittle, or degrade poor lighting designs. Outdoor lighting designers and manufacturers are on the brink of a lighting revolution. Older lighting schemes and fixtures, which aim excess light up and out into the night sky, are being replaced with dark-sky friendly lighting designs. Wasted light conceals the cosmos and repeals your right to a flawless view of the universe, something your ancestors enjoyed for millennia in a pristine night sky. We simply must not allow ourselves to cause cosmic extinction! If we act now, by the year 2020, we can all savor and cherish the Milky Way. Wasted light is wasted electricity, fuel, natural resources, and MONEY. Dark Sky 2020,. will enlighten your business and community and help YOU save money with sky-friendly nighttime lighting. More importantly, Dark Sky 2020," will assure that your children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great, great... will enjoy the stars as Nature intended--in a dark night sky. Thank you. Carpe Noctem (seize the night)! Clear, dark skies. Jack Troegpr (515-232-2317) TILTING AT have disturbed and disrupted every ecosystem on Earth. We slash and burn rain forests, WINDMILLS ? contaminate the water, desecrate y e air, foul the land. Is not the skya worth sanctuary, refuge, preserve? Must we annihilate the night sky to satisfy our insatiable, voracious, Dark sky at night, ravenous desire for light? Have we no a stargazer's delight. conscience, no restraint? Are we so obsessed with our power, our dominion over Nature, that Dark skies put stars in your eyes! we must also conquer the cosmos? Tonight, tomorrow night, every night, to satisfy The night sky is contaminated our lust for light, large cities will spray fountains of light skyward, and only a few of with unwelcome light! Nature's brightest luminaries will defy the hideous, gruesome glow. The sky over every small town will be cloaked in a shroud of The dark night sky is wasted light. Even the sky over field and farm will be tainted by a sea of shimmering security nearly extinct ! lights. We are trapped in a web of wires and poles, marquees and signs, streetlights, blazing business lights, and billboards beaming wasted What are you willing to do about it? light skyward. Few people know the night's starry patterns. You can do something People mistake Venus and even the Moon as that will make a difference. agents of alien abduction, destruction, and extinction! To behold the starry spectacle of a genuinely dark sky, we are forced to travel SAVE THE SKY ever greater distances to the frontier, the outback, the hinterlands of human and colonization; and even there the ghostly specter of our cast-away light hovers on the CONSERVE THE COSMOS horizon waiting to consume, to devour the darkness. Stargazers need a declaration of darkness, a Nature intended the night sky to be dark. It is dark sky constitutional covenant, a pledge of not! This is unacceptable! Our distant ancestors allegiance to the cosmos. Every human has the saw the sky in absolute, consummate darkness, right to a dark sky overhead. We need a Dark but our night sky is littered with light. We are Sky Bill of Rights, a statement that guarantees, on the brink of a celestial catastrophe, a cosmic that promises a dark night sky sprinkled with disaster. Sound serious? It is. Listen. We are stars. the first life forms on Earth capable of celestial extinction! We have the means and the will, it Wasted light is wasted electricity, wasted seems, to vanquish the night. We possess the energy, wasted fuel, wasted resources, and ultimate antidarkness weapon--LIGHT-- wasted MONEY--your money! We all pay for blazing, glaring, wanton, reckless, upturned wasted light one way or another. If you pay light! And worse, we seem to be obsessed with taxes, you pay for the wasted light that glows using it! from thousands of poorly designed streetlights. When you buy any product, the manufacturer, What value the night? What worth the sky? distributor, and retailer all add the cost of their What merit the stars? Why save these wasted light to the product's price. You pay twinkling beacons from heaven's portal? We for the electricity that the manufacturer uses to shed beams of wasted light on his/her their business by trying to overwhelm buildings, warehouses, distribution centers, etc. competitors with ever-brighter, bigger, more numerous lights? Are such light wars QUICKLY, estimate how much money we necessary? I will be the first to agree that waste in the U.S. each year lighting the sky: appropriate business lighting is absolutely $2000? $200,000? $2 million? $20 million? necessary. But wasted light is not necessary! The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) Wasted light (light shining up in the sky) costs in Arizona conservatively estimates that money, which affects prices and profits. Any Americans waste up to... light source that is visible from several blocks away is either too bright or improperly $$$ Two BILLION DOLLARS $$$ shielded. There are many good lighting designs available, and more are being designed and marketed all the time. They are called full cutoff each year lighting up the night sky. Why? Is it fixtures, properly shielded lights that force their necessary to light the bottoms of airplanes and light to shine down not up and out. the bellies of birds flying overhead? What possible purpose does wasted light serve? How do we eliminate wasted light? Surprisingly, most people don't mean to waste Simple: Just turn off the blasted lights! light. Indeed, most people aren't even aware that light is being wasted. Most people assume Some people think stargazers just want to turn the more light the better. In fact, most people off all the lights. I must admit the thought of a have never even heard of wasted light and planetwide power outage on a clear, moonless dark sky. So....how do we change things? night might be great for stargazers, but that's Read on. fantasy, not reality. Besides turning lights off won't work because we all need light at night How many streetlights do you have in your for a variety of reasons. Oh, there might be a community? Are they completely shielded so few lights here and there that we could do the light does not shine out or up into the sky? without, but most night lights are necessary. How much light (money) is wasted in your So what is the answer? Look at the picture community? below. I live in Ames, Iowa, a town with about 5000 streetlights, thousands of business lights, and about 50,000 people. There are about 10 streetlights for each person in town. Fortunately, some of these streetlights are properly shielded forcing their light down on E the ground where it is needed. But many are not shielded, shining light up, down, out, and BUST around. Is there a better way? DESIGN AND USE LIGHTS THAT YES . SHINE (DOWN, NOT UP, What about business lights in your This is the answer. We can have our light and dark sky too, but the light must shine down on community? Are they dark-sky friendly? Are the round not up in the sky! Look at the any of them turned off after business hours? picture above again. See the Big Dipper in the Do any of the business people in your DARK SKY surroundingthe light fixture? community fight light wars? Do they advertise Imagine the nighttime sky ablazewith starlight while the ground around you is bathed in truth and knowledge. streetlight and business light. As astronomers and stargazers we must It can happen. aggressively market our DARK SKY message! We must SELL the message! Few people are It will happen! natural born, intuitive salespeople. Most of us must learn the art of selling our product. But first, we must make people aware of the problem. We must imprint the words People rarely buy a particular product just because it exists. Products must be sold. DARKSKY Television is rife with commercials and infomercials; newspapers and magazines are littered with ads. Virtually everywhere we on everyone's mind and put them on look, listen, smell, touch, and taste, we are everyone's lips. In short we must make the bombarded with "buy this, buy us, buy me, buy, words DARK SKY as recognizable to the buy, buy!" As stargazers we don't think of average person as the words....... ourselves as salespeople, but we MUST sell dark skies! There is no choice! SUPER BOWL or SEINFELD! Commercializing our cosmic passion may be Are we... uncomfortable to some of us. And I'm sure ff ? �� many of us aren't happy "hawking" astronomy t 11 t in A t n� n d m C C s. like a barker at a carnival. But folks, stargazers No doubt. At times astronomers and stargazers are NOT destroying the night sky with light. feel like Don Quixote. We are relentlessly Our neighbors, coworkers, colleagues, at tilting at lightmills not windmills. But the only large,acqua areeS�ca sievengne cele t alaroundus, extinctsocietion. way we can succeed is to start. So, now we Stargazers and astronomers already know what start. Look at the drawing below. the problem is, but the general public does not know; so we must make them know. As astronomers we don't have a multi-million... $$$ DOLLAR $$$ WE advertising and marketing budget, we can't MUST create glossy photo ads, we can't saturate television with razzle-dazzle "super bowl" style en LIGHT en commercials, or hype dark sky like the final episode of a popular sitcom. So we must learn PEOPLE how to do a lot with essentially zero buckaroos! The challenge before us is... How do we get our message out there with the least money? How ironic. To help people adapt to a DARK What we have here is an excellent opportunity SKY, we must first enLIGHTen them. to invent and use some very creative marketing Enlighten means to: strategies. inform or instruct; to free from We need to make sure people understand that prejudice or ignorance; to give nighttime lighting is not a problem as long as it doesn't destroy a DARK SKY. We must make people realize that the night sky is off limits to fax slain peapte. 28hat 61wu(d tie lone? light. Our efforts to sell DARK SKIES today wHI determine how our children and their children see the stars. If we take the task lightly [Ol we deserve to fail. ...J I II U I„, If we are earnest ...... in our dark sky endeavor, J ee w-lii'�� 6wi-thw a fht-it made uwttfee, our children will enjoy a DARK SKY. when 3v4ne adwtte-&tacaeo Meat &e wi%ua& Some people say its already too late, that the night skv is doomed, that our mission, our 3-eue'u�ee .ww", ta. &e icuto �n wWdetubs quest, is hopeless: Maybe- so, but I believe iNH: of a f �_�tid:tced tnaancn%a. :fin there's time left to change things--so let's... maim, ffie w o& town way abwzz with 5 Q t i dw sAvH sotwd of anticu& tte calif-dud J ea pee ctatrwxed fan a "sound sa"on to There seems little debate about our cause. w&3 p ,Minn 111 rl-& ttainA co-itrt 3tm , Nearly everyone agrees with the essence of F�stt tice deafe�un�. w mit'e�s had to Ja% Ja DARK SKIES. A few people disagree, anal they are a challenge, but I suspect we may never get 6homt `tmdet citi�f o iciob, ftcu y of ficaab, and them to "see the light." So let's focus our w,�3ident, Aicwsed ja"am. and Ai(9,NE'tJ energy on the people that will help us... ��`��� p ways (tuiu tt r'""Vd and jJpenL. 1.)40,e Uf Save the Sky. the Rag-haa, ways, satued and mast peapte whvtried to pe� sr.e�p. To help you and others understand the essence ll, unwelcome e ; in f DARK SKIES, three little anecdotes. •��'�• •i��.� CO171e 1101Se �S annoying. . o_ RK K_�;v, I offer e.. itt.e ane.;d���.,. Unwelcome (wasted) light is also annoying, .jary�la�C%!e a tauc ataC/q the, t<arcl' at two gtr nnmarc don't t n eliminate P lights. Ast o...,lnel, don t want, to eliminate the lights. tt'e'c1' maw owcmo tits- and `-u1Atwj twee We know light is necessary (just like the w.aident, were wwvwcd4 happ#. J3ut thect whistles are necessary), but light iiliuST shine netw% seemed to heat the jouad al ag liter - . ,3.t down on the ground not out and up into the w a txat�rti.�ac� saEuatiarc, see,, 6ecaccvse at sky. When officials and residents searched for+• �,• ,� ,.,, � solutions to the whistle problem, +they found a t "J c.°zuu-c€aa. thai. �w°ted t-witg e special whistle which aims the sound only thii sfeepcl &tW wn* 24 hau,,w- 'WA* woos it Where it's needed, not all over town. Guess .51eep .9 because &,-%,6. nu*, wti tat ttre what? The solution to wasted light is similar! There are dozens of attractive lighting designs towtoptk hued ta steep, choa.-cFraa. he Lw, that aim light only where it is needed, DOWN. toi:tndewd t.R�.r.:r�,R town, s:�.oistte3 at fait They cost less over the long run, too, because once. ./Y(ast �oc file cuYei�tte,� less expensive, smaller, and more energy- efficient bulbs can be used. If creative residents �34alV i pnN �n� �n sa�.e. �12�� aaxtze � rw. - � � and officials can find money to solve a whistle peapee, ",peciaUg ffw-3e ffud Uuecl neat the dilemma, why not money to save the sky? ttacib, were a detacmdabiq twt aged 6V the nightta nabe. 'eVA& a conund uan tho pa"led: the watt-, wwie a&a£ut4-- aee4ej3um�t; tzut Rnrother anecdote. �f�a a da,44 and then were aba an extxaandmaw annmianee -4taw W tug& Ae�' #Vu acre uz 4wuy _ndy ca-r aft a tam-&we toad that aihetchej- and dr,Ue aaq: The taand a-tid Candjcape ta the hanvzon a lew cam cure apynaac�uit� afcead�/ ij aeady ttu jt4& ass gaux b - in the a&-j.taftce. `�ftea-r eff�&-� ate p(aCi4- iaa e�C eW-. n 11( ye&W, la Jgat+tae *U Ui z6fe an fiat-fieafft lfiuw aw aft %i 0- have Ft encauafttened the to w-head(hy&)ed, Aeafn tao. _46gh-ha m ihine asp, a.t_f, cad o4agh weam, i i.` mar,,j ! atal.Uit. J.acil, hozaeae&. �zaaa ane imm enaugh to the At-j ` ca" fa Caw% yawn e—a tight to Cow- MOraI. LOWER YOUR LIGHTS ! fieam, wh" efiute dwm. .lhe duvet of the a.N., v,m4V eax daei ` Path knart, Fortunately, most drivers are polite and deaf caunteug campe6— gau to laacen mat courteous and automatically lower their lights &9VI d— 2�r ka", that ttitwz ng the,. when approaching an oncoming car. Sadly, there will always be the few stubborn, impolite cohLplek(g aff uwuCd nat 6e a cafe aptida! drivers (light monsters) that insist on keeping .C'eacei._j t&m o, jam$-,#eam cuauCd lie fi w.st their lig_h_ts on high-beam; shining up into our plain rude, eyes and skies. Anecdote- three: You and gazer yriead � ��� paw QacF at,�ier and dri:ce aft, /face <<eeft to 4"'W# a tee _ tweawtiedng atiier caw,. ✓� apP pap &y V=r airiiue at Me tfteate., er ety drueer coat6eau4 ••: i %r Pair, popcavt, and o uda the Meatet. /feauf�`i to C'aree-fieafn and par�s�.e�s �.cz� .J`-R�e �,� j are o.Ptinmg �' - o- to �p �. 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Ueyaaja Ad a4w you zdcw ta gaar peat, cgau dec&w ffe figh& actuaffy care even a Most of us involved in dark sky campaigns e - , , cued the "�� ., aye even &m have been at it for years. We are veterans of ' many "light wars." We have already spent thousands of positive, gentle, logical, patient, persistent, persuasive, polite, courteous, ,N�� � aye �� Jpazt tenacious, relentless hours trying to convince &whaw" to me Mij pxiAv an nawx d people to keep the night sky dark. Once-in-a- lifetime cosmic events like Comet Hale-Bopp can Juat Aaze4 mafe aut the adimz. you acre and Comet Hyakutake surpass any of 996ff and angV, &d y,=% committed Hollywood's best movies. Stargazers want to "W pzfde and paacfcae m see the sky show in a dark "theater." Even more importantly, stargazers love to share the adzng management fa &wer the tigf&. So, sky show with others, but we can't share the ante aqw&, yen4, c a4&au4, per, �uw show if the cosmic theater is soaked with light. a k maaagement to "Weade &wen the More to muse about: In our society it seems 6 " ✓`4iJ true Yau a(4 1 d0ff'f have that the "squeaky wheel always gets the most to tunas Man c� a#,- �t ffem grease." Have stargazers been patient and do,a,n is we can mfiw the oAam " AeaP"me: polite too long? Could it be that our message is not heard because our "wheel isn't squeaky" "S'"e, Wu Ad- " ` u it, t&# 9-& enough? Has the time come for astronomers to even Axighim! ✓1`,a maftf uAae you do, no shout loud and clear? "LOWER YOUR nurfte�c howp� g<uc aaP, na matfe�c how cosmic Should stargazers draw a line in the cosmic sand and say? �igied gau)v aeae� mand, management ah#&&&1 wlujea to &wn the 60a, the " Go ahead, entire name ta cried, and Vtw aye exlwwwP,c� u -p#! w.liat�j-yam nel-d Mep9 make my night. Of course, this story is not meant to insult or Turn UP your light! " malign theater management personnel. It is simply an analogy that describes the situation stargazers encounter as they try to get the Must stargazers switch to a more... public's attention. aggressive Astronomers and stargazers have been asking forceful the public to lower the lights (not turn them off) with the greatest of patience, perseverance, psyched up persistence, and politeness for at least 10 years. The public, city officials, and business people-- pumped up nearly everyone seems sympathetic. Many people respond with statements like, "you bet," IN-YOUR-FACE... or "no problem," but most people simply continue turning up the lights, literally pointing them up in the sky and putting in brighter approach to get attention, to get results? bulbs! The hardest part of our task is to This question is a real conundrum for convince the public to use light properly. stargazers. On the one hand, we 11referto be positive, to gently persuade people to think Please take some moments, minutes, hours, DARK SKY. On the other hand, we are frustrated by the lack of impact our message organizational bureaucracy, and most has had after more than 10 years of polite importantly, no organizational politics. The perseverance. Again, nearly everyone seems Dark Sky Campaign is my effort to... sympathetic, almost always agreeing with our DARK SKY message, but little substantial Conserve the Cosmos and Save the Sky progress is made! for as long as I am able. Something even more frustrating and mysterious: most astronomers and stargazers Many astronomers and stargazers describe aren't very committed to the cause either. There wasted light in the sky as light pollution. My are tens of thousands of astronomers and experience suggests that many people millions of stargazers all over the world. But immediately turn off when they hear the word the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), pollution. DARK SKY or DARK SKIES is very the world's largest dark-sky organization, has positive and clearly describes what we want to only about 2000 dues paying members! Why? accomplish. Whenever possible during my How do we get astronomers and stargazers campaign. I shall try to use DARK SKY and/or involved, committed, dedicated, resolved to do DARK SKIES and try to eliminate light something about dark skies? More importantly, pollution. how do we get the public to make the leap from agreeing with us to doing something The word CAMPAIGN is from the French about DARK SKIES? language, meaning open country. It is ultimately from Latin, meaning field. A field in EXTINCTION IS FOREVER! open country is a wonderful place for stargazing under a dark sky. In the country F WE DO NOTHING, the dark sky seems to wrap around you like a D R R K SKIES R R E E KTI.r. soft, supple, comfortable, black velvet blanket. A campaign is also a series of activities designed to accomplish something, a planned course of action designed to achieve a special purpose. The DARK SKY CAMPAIGN is DARK SKY CAMPAIGNTN1 designed to restore a DARK SKY. In my effort to create a DARK SKY, I shall be The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) known as the DARK SKY KNIGHT OF THE is an excellent organization that has CELESTIAL SPHERE_ accomplished a great deal. The organization has made a difference almost single-handedly. You are welcome to join me on my quest to "tilt I am also committed to a dark sky. I have been at lightmills." If you wish to participate you may also wish to be a Dark Sky Knight or a stargazer and avid amateur astronomer most Dame of the Celestial SphereTM. of my life. It all began at the age of five. I looked up at the stars and have been hooked Knight is an obvious play on words. A Dame ever since. is the equivalent of a Knight in England. The Most youngsters nowadays never see the Celestial Sphere is an astronomical term for the night sky as Mother Nature intended it to be-- sky overhead. DARK. How will young people today. The following is a list of things we can do to especially those living in large urban areas, ever make the DARK SKY CAMPAIGN successful. get hooked on astronomy if they can't see the If you would like to contribute to the quest, stars? you are welcome to work in your own I have invented the DARK SKY community as a Dark Sky Knight or Dame of the Celestial SphereT.- You may create one or CAMPAIGNTM. It is not an organization. There are no dues, no membership fees, no club or more of the following. However, if you plan to create any of the following for the public, please allow me to review it. You are and with the signature of President Grant, encouraged to add ideas you have to the list. Yellowstone National Park was established. Now, there are more than 50 national parks. THE LIST The Congress also established the National Park Service and stated that its fundamental Slogan purpose was to... Bumper sticker "conserve the scenery and the natural and Logo Lo historic objects and the wildlife therein and Ad campaign Awards for best (worst?) lighting to provide for the enjoyment of the same in A television or radio commercial such manner and by such means as will leave Poster to print and pass out them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future Brochure--to pass out to the public generations." Letters to the editor Photo essays of goad;bad lighting The universe IS worthy of our protection and Videotape (I'm making one). preservation too. We are obligated to... Website (Ditto) CONSERVE THE COSMOS Music composition Essays for future generations. Our goal should not be Poems Comedy routine (keep it clean!) a state park, a national park, or even an Play international park. No, our goal must be Artwork using a variety of media nothing less than the universe! The sky WILL Motto become a grand COSMIC PARK protected by a Cosmic Park Service and Cosmic Park Flag H shirt Rangers, who will... Cartoon Strip ",,,protect and conserve from light, the Book scenery and natural objects in the cosmos Magazine or newsletter for the enjoyment of future generations." Newspaper(Dark Sky Times.) Dark Sky Survey The Congress and President launched the Dark Sky Jingle National Park Service more than a century ago. Dark Sky Pledge of Allegiance Isn't it about time that a Congress and Dark Sky Constitution President establish a Cosmic Park? Declaration of Darkness National Dark Sky Nights Proclamation Look at the photograph on the next page. It is a mosaic of many satellite photos showing the "bazillowatts" of light we waste lighting up the night sky here in the United States. One more thin • Photomosaics like these are also available for other continents and for the entire planet. Is your town or city visible? Since this More than 100 years ago some very insightful photomosaic was published, even more wasted people had the foresight to set aside large light has been added. parcels of land as national parks and monuments. We are blessed with the results of We have the technology, the knowledge, and their efforts. No doubt when they started their the money to fix this problem. All we lack is the "save the land campaign," many people scoffed collected willingness to MAKE IT HAPPEN! and said, "How foolish!" "Why would anyone want to set aside land to be saved for future generations to enjoy?" Thankfully, those earlier conservationists and preservationists did not give up. In 1872, by an ACT of CONGRESS, What can you do to launch change? Step One: KNOW THE-SKY! Learn the stars, DARK SKY! constellations, lunar phases, planet positions. Except for the photomosaic above, the enclosed As ,you read this: Where is the Moon and what material is copyright protected by Jack Troeger is its phase? Where is the Sun? Point to (1998). Please use it, but please give the proper Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Pluto. Where is the Big acknowledgements and credit. Dipper? Orion? Scorpius? Arcturus? Vega? Where is M-31? M-57? M-8? Once you are familiar with the sky's lights, you'll understand why stargazers want the sky DARK! Step Two: LOOK AT LIGHTS! Look at streetlights, business lights, building lights, all lights, during the day and especially at night. Proper lighting shines down, not out in your eyes or up into the sky. We all need night light for safety and security, but we are light gluttons, addicted to using far more light than we need. Most lighting designs shine up and out, not down. Upturned light is wasted light, which is wasted electricity, wasted energy, wasted fuel, wasted resources, wasted MONEY--your money! You pay for every beam of light that goes up into space not down on the ground where it is needed. Lighting engineers, architects, and designers are slowly becoming enLIGHTened. Proper lighting designs are available and often less expensive than the older light bombs that spray light up, down, out, around, left, right, and everywhere, not just where it's needed. Step Three: ASK QUESTIONS, SEEK ANSWERS! Educate yourself about outdoor lighting, light fixtures, lighting designs, lighting laws and lighting policies. Step Four: DEMAND DARKNESS! Gently, tactfully, persuasively, persistently, eloquently, aggressively, convincingly, tenaciously, relentlessly demand a dark sky. If you don't demand a dark sky, it will vanish! We can, we will have a dark sky! SAVE THE SKY. SPARE THE STARS. Carpe Noctem (Seize the Night)'. Let's get out there and make a...