Dark Skies

What exactly is a Dark Sky City? It’s a community that commits to preserving dark skies via both policy and practice.

This includes creating a comprehensive lighting policy, generating public awareness, and a demonstration of widespread support by a variety of organizations. 

Flagstaff was named the world’s first International Dark Sky City in 2001. Let’s take a look at how that came about, but first, a little about the importance of limiting light pollution.

Dark skies are important for astronomical research facilities, and instruments such as the Lowell Discovery Telescope and the Navy Precision Optical Interferometer are exquisitely sensitive to even tiny amounts of light pollution. But losing the darkness of night has a host of other impacts. Increasing nighttime sky glow adversely affects ecologically sensitive areas. Disruption of the natural light-dark cycle affects human circadian rhythms and has demonstrable health impacts. The night sky is an important part of many cultural traditions. And many kids grow up in urban centers without ever seeing the Milky Way or a sky dotted with brilliant stars – a source of wonder and inspiration for humankind since ancient times.