Latest news with #DarkSkyInternational
Forbes
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Dazzling Night Sky Photos: ‘Capture The Dark' Contest Winners Inspire Awe
The night sky presents wondrous and mysterious views — of the moon, stars, galaxies, meteor showers and other otherworldly marvels. The winners of this year's annual Capture the Dark photography contest capture this cosmic canvas in awe-inspiring tableaus. The contest, now in its fifth year, is run by Dark Sky International, a nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness of the ubiquity of artificial light, or light pollution, and how it can impact human health, disrupt wildlife ecosystems by interrupting predictable natural rhythms of day and night, waste energy and obscure views that have inspired science, philosophy and art for centuries. Light pollution continues to increase annually worldwide, according to a landmark study from 2023, with North America seeing a spike of more than 10 percent. Dark Sky International received its highest number of submissions yet for this year's contest — more than 2,284 from over 22 countries. They picture everything from comets and shimmering deep-sky observations to nocturnal wildlife. 'The result is more than a gallery of stunning images,' the organization said last week when announcing the winners, which were selected by a panel of astrophotographers. 'It's a call to action to protect the night.' This year, for the first time, Dark Sky International released guidelines for responsible astrophotography for Capture the Dark entrants. Photographers are asked to respect dark-sky locations, use light responsibly and present an authentic night-sky experience by being transparent about editing, labeling composite images and ensuring the sky matches the geographic location of the foreground. Here are some of this year's winners across eight categories open to all skill levels and to photos taken with everything from the highest-end photography equipment to phones and GoPros. First Place, Capture the Dark For the image titled 'The Watchers,' JJ Rao captured rare red sprites dancing over the tidal flats of Western Australia. 'A large sprite like this exists for 10 milliseconds, up to 40 times faster than an eye blink,' the photographer said. 'This makes photographing them challenging and requires very dark skies. The central sprite is unusual. It's known as a 'jellyfish' sprite, the largest and fastest of all sprites.' Second Place, Capture the Dark Third Place, Capture the Dark First Place, The Impact of Light Pollution Ambre de l'AIPe snapped this image, titled 'Requiem for a Dream' in the northern Alps of France. 'The tent is pitched in the snow, and a sea of clouds filters the light from the town of Chamonix,' de l'AIPe said. 'An incredible atmosphere, and it's even more incredible to realize that the town, despite the clouds obscuring the light, shines right up to the summit of Mont-Blanc.' Second Place, The Impact of Light Pollution Third Place, The Impact of Light Pollution First Place, International Dark Sky Places For the winning image 'Starlight Highway,' photographer Tom Rae stood at the entrance to a dark-sky preserve in New Zealand. 'The Starlight Highway sign is definitely one of the cooler signs to find on the road, and there is a good reason for it, as you can see,' Rae said. 'The sign marks the entrance to the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, one of the most significant dark sky reserves on Earth.' Second Place, International Dark Sky Places Third Place, International Dark Sky Places First Place, Creatures Of The Night Oscar Leonardo Chavez Torres made an ordinary sight in Sonora, Mexico, look extraordinary. 'Scorpions use the darkness to hunt in the desert,' the photographer noted. 'These organisms thrive in the dark nights of the desert, and even the moon can be enough light to drop their activity.' Second Place, Creatures Of The Night Third Place, Creatures Of The Night
NZ Herald
24-07-2025
- Science
- NZ Herald
US city sheds light on the cost benefits of municipal mood lighting
The new lights are directed downward and emit warmer light than many LEDs. Compared with the old orange lights, the new lights appear brighter when fully turned up, but shields can be added to the fixtures to curb what is known as 'light trespass'. Robinson said he also plans to dim the new lights between 11pm and 4am, which will save energy and money, and, according to the city, cause less harm to migratory birds, urban wildlife, and humans. Thanks to urbanisation and electrification, light pollution is growing globally by nearly 10% a year, according to a 2023 study. Many areas are over-lit, which wastes energy, obfuscates starry skies and messes with the circadian rhythms of plants, wildlife, and people. Pittsburgh officials had long planned to swap out the city's old streetlights, but for years they didn't have the budget to adopt the types of LED streetlights that other cities were beginning to install. That turned out to be a good thing. The first generation of LED streetlights led to lower costs and energy savings but also heightened exposure to glare and harmful blue light. In 2016, the American Medical Association warned that blue-rich LED streetlights suppressed melatonin and contributed to sleeplessness, poor daytime functioning and obesity, while also disorienting birds, insects, turtles and fish species that need darkness at night. Some research suggests that bright city lights worsen air pollution by hindering night-time chemical reactions that clean the air. The city of Pittsburgh included new streetlights in its 2021 budget and not long afterwards passed an ordinance that follows guidelines from DarkSky International, a non-profit organisation focused on fighting light pollution. One feature of the new lights that complies with DarkSky International's recommendations is a relatively warmer hue. Night-time LED lighting around warehouses and in prison yards often emits bright, cold blue-rich light that can have a colour temperature of 5500 kelvins and up. DarkSky International recommends streetlights with warmer tones and a maximum colour temperature of 3000 kelvins. Pittsburgh's new lights are 2700 on the Kelvin scale. 'We leapfrogged the LED blue-light phase,' Marion said. According to the city, the new lights will last at least four times longer than the ones they're replacing, saving the city nearly US$500,000 in maintenance costs annually. Because it's using less electricity to run the lights, the city estimates it will prevent 12,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year. 'It's practical and pragmatic because of its simplicity and its impact,' said Grant Ervin, Pittsburgh's former chief resilience officer. One of the biggest proponents of Pittsburgh's dark-sky lighting ordinance is Diane Turnshek, who teaches astronomy at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. Turnshek, 70, who grew up in New England, remembers easily seeing the Milky Way as a child. The city skyline in Pittsburgh. Photo / Danielle Amy, the New York Times Over time, she grew dismayed by the fact that her astronomy students couldn't readily see dazzling starry skies and that light pollution often wasn't considered an environmental concern. She was determined to raise awareness about the problem and ways to address it and worked with the city of Pittsburgh to pass the ordinance. 'It's such an easy fix,' Turnshek said. 'You turn them off. You use them appropriately. You don't use them when you don't need them. Change is instantaneous and saves you money.' The prospect of dimmer streetlights is often met with public resistance because of the belief that artificial lights increase night-time safety. While people may feel safer with more light at night, that doesn't necessarily correlate with crime statistics, said John Barentine, a consultant and former director of public policy for DarkSky International. US cities and towns often vastly exceed recommended levels of illumination, creating glare that can be blinding, he said. Lower-income neighbourhoods with more people of colour often had brighter lights than more affluent, white neighbourhoods, he said. 'We're arguing in favour of public safety by preserving and enhancing night-time visibility through better lighting design,' Barentine said. 'We're actually doing people a favour by bringing the light levels down, because we're helping the eye to operate most efficiently under night-time conditions. We're aiding vision, rather than taking something away.' Still, there are limits to the benefits. Avalon Owens, a research fellow at the Rowland Institute at Harvard University, said that even warm, dim artificial light is usually too bright for most nocturnal insects, which have eyes that are thousands of times more sensitive than those of humans and are most active a few hours after dusk. Motion-activated lighting is also preferable, she said. But shielding lights from natural areas does reduce some negative impacts on insects and the species that rely on them, Owens said. LEDs also use less power, generating fewer greenhouse-gas emissions, and climate change is one of the biggest threats to biodiversity. 'It's a matter of minimising harm,' Owens said. Pittsburgh also has about 3450 LED streetlights with colour temperatures of 4000 kelvins that will be swapped out for the new, warmer versions. The US$15 million project is expected to be completed in 2027. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Written by: Cara Buckley Photographs by: Danielle Amy ©2025 THE NEW YORK TIMES
National Geographic
17-07-2025
- National Geographic
Here's why stargazers are flocking to the Oregon Outback
Southeast Oregon is a patchwork of high desert, mountains, and volcanic landscape, stitched together by river canyons and long stretches of solitude. When darkness falls on clear nights across this region, visitors can watch a shimmering blanket of stars emerge. In March 2024, The 2.4-million-acre Oregon Outback officially became the largest dark sky sanctuary in the world. DarkSky International, an organization dedicated to preserving dark places to mitigate the harmful effects of pervasive light pollution, has awarded the designation to Lake County, home to nearly 500,000 residents. This special recognition marks the first phase of the proposed Oregon Outback International Dark Sky Sanctuary, which upon completion, could expand to 11.4 million acres. (A practical guide to stargazing) Community effort for a dark sky sanctuary "From a local government point of view, it's a question of managing how much tourism can we actually accommodate before it becomes cumbersome," says James Williams, a Lake County Commissioner, who ensured that residents' concerns were heard during the dark sky sanctuary application process. He was just one of many imporant people who helped make the Oregon Outback an international dark sky sanctuary. Bob Hackett, director of Travel Southern Oregon, first proposed the idea for a sanctuary after noticing the increasing popularity of dark sky tourism. To Hackett, it was a good opportunity to draw attention to the natural beauty of this remote region in Oregon. However, some locals were afraid that sanctuary status would impose restrictions on private land, particularly on ranching and farming activity. However, conversations eased residents' concerns once there were no foreseeable restrictions on private property. Some changes were necessary for public land. A light management plan would protect the existing darkness. As the plan evolved, Hackett says, 'We just kept checking in with people and making sure everyone was on board.' A light management plan provides straightforward guidance for public places, such as motion-activated lights and positioning light fixtures downward. Different governing bodies, including the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service, manage the Oregon Outback; so, the designation as a dark sky sanctuary required extensive collaboration across agencies. It took five years and six light management drafts to get all parties on board and the application approved. (These are the best stargazing sites in North America) Stargazers can witness the awe of a starry summer night and the Milky Way high above the Oregon Outback International Dark Sky Sanctuary. Photograph By Babak Tafreshi, Nat Geo Image Collection How to reach the Oregon Outback Stargazers looking for city comforts can make Bend their home base, where they'll find plenty of options for food, hotels, and access to outdoor adventures, like rock climbing and hiking. Most visitors fly to Portland and then drive three hours to Bend, but flying into Redmond Municipal Airport is another option. It's 16 miles north of Bend with direct flights to many U.S. cities in the West. Road trippers can make the 40-mile drive from Bend to Fort Rock, a tuff ring or low, wide, bowl-shaped volcanic crater located on an Ice Age lakebed. Fort Rock is technically outside of sanctuary bounds, but it's a stunning location for stargazing. Visitors may want to consider booking a stargazing tour with Wanderlust Tours, which offers tours from Bend to Fort Rock with expert guides, who provide insight into the region's landscape and the night sky. Tourists enjoy dinner and drinks at a picnic area with a view of Fort Rock as the sun dips below the horizon—and then the light show, the Milky Way, reveals itself in the sky. (10 of the best places for stargazing in the UK) Tourists can also stay in Lakeview and Paisley, Ore., two small towns at the edge of the sanctuary, and both have several motels that provide guests easy access to venture out for stargazing. Located outside of Paisley, Summer Lake Hot Springs has cozy, rustic cabins and camping facilities. Guests also have access to on-site outdoor and indoor mineral spring pools. Travelers visiting the Oregon Outback for stargazing can make the city of Bend their home base with options for food, hotels, and other outdoor activities. Photograph By Jacob Boomsma/Shutterstock Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, a sanctuary for American pronghorn and other wildlife, has three established campgrounds with vault toilets, which provides a remote camping experience for those seeking it. Sites are available on a first-come, first-served basis and are free of charge. Backcountry hiking requires a permit; please note that fires are not allowed. In addition to the aforementioned places, Southeast Oregon has several hiking trails that lead to campgrounds and or scenic overlooks, such as the 750-mileOregon Desert Trail, which stretches across the Oregon Outback. You can hike short portions from Paisley, Lakeview, or Valley Falls to find secluded darkness, but only experienced backcountry hikers should take on this trail, where cellphone service is not available. The eastern portion of Fremont-Winema National Forest features several trails, ranging in skill level from the easy 4.4-mile Lake of the Woods Area Trail to the challenging 4.6-mile Mount McLoughlin Trail. (10 of the dreamiest stargazing trains in the U.S.) In addition to stargazing, travelers can visit the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, a sanctuary for American pronghorn and other wildlife. Photograph By Michael Durham/Minden Pictures How to be a responsible dark sky tourist Travelers visiting the Oregon Outback International Dark Sky Sanctuary should plan ahead. First, tourists visiting the area should establish their comfort level when choosing a place to stay. Do you want to stay in a motel in a small town after a night of stargazing to sleep in a comfortable bed? Do you want to bring everything you need to camp without cell service or running water? Some remote locations lack readily available emergency service. 'Our search and rescue is entirely volunteer,' says Williams. 'If you get stuck on backroads or lost on trails, it might take us a while to come find you.' Know your limits when it comes to how far you venture, the lay of the land (expected terrain), and the weather you might encounter along the way. Map out gas stations and note their operating hours, and as responsible travelers, be mindful to leave natural spaces as you found them. 'It's a good idea to brush up on Leave No Trace principles,' says Courtney Braun, co-owner and guide at Wanderlust Tours. 'A lot of the Outback doesn't have facilities like bathrooms, so you need plans for a toilet system.' While visiting the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge in southeast Oregon, visitors can take a dip in a natural hot spring. Photograph By Greg Vaughn/Alamy Bring a headlamp with a red-light option, which preserves night vision and won't disrupt wildlife. Minimize the use of lights at night while prioritizing safety. In addition to respecting the land and the dark, it's important to respect the people who call this place home. 'When you see a fence that says no trespassing—it's probably a good idea not to trespass,' says Williams. Travel Southern Oregon's website also provides information about the Oregon Outback and best practices when visiting. (Big Sky, brighter stars: Why Montana is 2025's ultimate stargazing destination) Britany Robinson is a freelance journalist covering travel and the environment from the shoreline of Connecticut, where she also writes essays and obituaries. Follow her on Instagram.
ABC News
06-07-2025
- ABC News
Kestrel Nest becomes first 'dark-sky' lodging in Australia
A venue in southern New South Wales has become the first lodging in Australia to be internationally recognised as "dark-sky" accommodation, sparking hopes of a new tourism boom. The Kestrel Nest EcoHut, in the state's Snowy Mountains, has been identified by DarkSky International as a place with little light pollution and a clear night sky. Owner Louise Freckelton had seen a spike in bookings since the recognition, with patrons indicating they booked because of it. "We are hoping that it will increase … understanding of why dark skies are really important." Ms Freckelton said the recognition attracted a range of people "from the ordinary, everyday traveller right through to really niche markets". "You get people who are really into finding out what astro-phenomenon is happening at the time," she said. DarkSky International is a not-for-profit organisation that certifies areas that preserve and protect dark sites through lighting policies and education. More than 200 places across the world are DarkSky-certified, including the Warrumbungles and the Murray River. But there are only nine certified temporary-accommodation sites, and just two in the South Hemisphere: Kestrel Nest and a lodging in Brazil. DarkSky communications manager Drew Reagan said the lodging program started just over a year ago, due to the rise of astro-tourism. "Astro-tourism is really any tourism that brings people out to recreate in these dark-sky places," he said. Mr Reagan said Australia had great potential to capitalise on the growing market. "Eighty per cent of the world's population lives in light-polluted areas," he said. The eco-hut is close to several regional communities, including Gundagai and Tumut, which could potentially benefit from flow-on effects. Ms Freckelton said she encouraged visitors to "engage with other towns and other activities in the area". "As part of the information we give to guests before they come, we highlight different things they might like to do," she said. Ms Freckelton said her venue had to meet a certain threshold of low light pollution when applying for the certification, so she completed an inventory of lighting both in and around the hut. "We had unwittingly already met those [requirements] about having warm light, about having light when it is only necessary, not having excess lighting," she said. A Habitat Identification report also required the identification of species and insects living or migrating through a 2-kilometre vicinity of the site. "Nocturnal creatures like owls and bats are affected by light pollution. Their hunting and feeding and so on is distracted by too much light," Ms Freckelton said. Mr Reagan said DarkSky International aimed to protect the night-time environment "not just for the view of the stars and cosmos, but also to protect nocturnal wildlife and ecosystems". Tumut photographer Grant Hardwick said night-time photography could easily be affected by light pollution, resulting in overexposed highlights or shadows. "You're taking it over a long period of time, you're allowing the light to come into the camera," he said. "So if there's a house or a car or a truck or something moving past in the distance, that's going to be captured." Michael Maher, a volunteer at the Rock Regional Observatory near Wagga Wagga, is also no fan of big cities and bright lights. "The further you go away from the city, the better it is," he said. "The Milky Way … disappears immediately with light pollution. "In big city areas and with a lot of development around, you really have to go looking for it."
Otago Daily Times
05-07-2025
- Science
- Otago Daily Times
Things looking up for Dark Skies group
Protecting the sparkling Hāwea skies has become a priority for one star-struck resident. Danny Mollan moved to Lake Hāwea seven years ago with his wife and quickly fell in love with the dark skies of his new home. Having worked in IT for most of his life, his journey into astronomy began with a pair of binoculars and a clear sky. He soon found himself attending astronomy courses in Alexandra and consulting local astronomers to learn more about the views he was seeing. "It's a sort of new thing for me," he said. "The catalyst was moving here and looking up. It's pretty addictive." About two years ago, Mr Mollan made connections with groups across the region including the The Tāhuna Glenorchy Dark Sky Sanctuary, which was recognised internationally as a dark sky sanctuary earlier this year. This inspired him to set up the Hāwea Dark Skies group a month ago with the help of volunteers and in affiliation with the Hāwea Community Association. The idea behind the group is to achieve recognition from United States-based DarkSky International. The non-profit has different classifications for different locations including dark sky communities, parks, reserves and sanctuaries. Dark sky sanctuaries are considered some of the most remote and darkest locations around the world. Mr Mollan said they were still unsure which classification they would aim for but the overarching goal was to get some recognition and protection for the Hāwea dark sky. The first step in achieving this was generating support from the community, which Mr Mollan was confident about. Last Saturday, Mr Mollan started spreading the word to the wider community by making an appearance at the community connections event. The event was a casual gathering organised by the Hāwea Community Association for residents to meet, chat and connect with one another. He said everyone he spoke to took interest and supported the project, especially those who were invested in protecting Hāwea's environment. "All the people who are sort of working on any aspect of environmental preservation in Hāwea, the stakeholders group, the guardians of the lake, they're all very strongly supportive." As part of the protection for dark skies, it would limit artificial light which can be disorienting to biodiversity such as some birds and insects. Mr Mollan also felt it was great for tourism in the region and would draw like-minded national and international visitors to Hāwea. "It attracts a really nice form of tourism. The kind of people who do dark sky tourism, they're here because they are admiring the beauty of the area.". Once the group had enough community support, the next step was to map out the location that would be part of the protected area and then begin taking measurements to understand how dark the sky actually was, he said. This would be done in consultation with scientists, the Queenstown Lakes District Council and groups such as Winterstellar Charitable Trust who work across New Zealand to foster interest in dark skies. This would then go towards informing a draft proposal to DarkSky International.
