National Park Service News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – February 4, 2010
Contact: Chad Moore (970) 491-3700
National Parks Offer Star-studded Skies in 2010
Washington, DC – On your next national park visit, remember that a
spectacular sunset is just the prelude to the wonders of the night sky.
“Thousands of people made that discovery last year, in part
because 2009 was the International Year of Astronomy, 400 years after
Galileo turned his telescope to the heavens,” said National Park Service
Director Jon Jarvis. “This year we’ll introduce tens of thousands more
visitors to the night sky through programs at about 60 national parks.”
Astronomy Night in the Park at many national parks across the
country was a great success, said Chad Moore, manager of the National Park
Service Night Sky Program. “We suspect the people who rediscovered the
cosmos at one of our programs last year will return with friends and family
or will travel to a different national park to share their experience of a
starry sky, free of light pollution.”
Through programs like the Dark Skies Rangers Program, students of
just about any age can learn about the importance of dark skies, experiment
with activities that illustrate good and bad lighting, and learn of light
pollution’s effects on wildlife. A highlight of the program is the citizen
science project, GLOBE at Night, taking place March 3-16, 2010. This
program enlists the help of students to collect data on the night sky
conditions in their community and parks, and contribute to a worldwide
database on light pollution.
"You can check out the Dark Skies Rangers, GLOBE at night, and
other aspects of the International Year of Astronomy at –
www.darkskiesawareness.org – which lives on after the 2009 celebration,”
Moore said. “The web site has tips on lighting, energy conservation,
posters, post cards, teacher packets, measuring the night sky, and
information on how light pollution affects animals.”
The NPS has developed a Junior Ranger Night Explorer program,
encouraging young park visitors to explore the dark side of their national
parks. "Kids can learn how to find the North Star, write their own creative
mythology about the constellations, track the phases of the moon, and learn
about stars and galaxies, and use all their senses to explore the night
environment at a national park," said Angie Richman, astronomy ranger with
the Intermountain Regional Office. The booklet was recently published and
will be freely distributed in a number of national parks in 2010.
Don’t forget to look for night sky activities on the web site of
the individual national parks you plan to visit this year. For example,
Acadia National Park in Maine held its first Night Sky Festival last
September, urged on by the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce and several other
community organizations. The next festival is planned for September 9-12,
2010, with a variety of day and nighttime programs taking place in the park
and surrounding community. Further information is available by contacting
the park at 207-288-8703 or at http://www.nightskyfestival.org/Festival.
Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah has been hosting stargazing
programs since 1969, and will hold its 10th annual Astronomy Festival July
7-10, 2010. This four-day event also features daytime and nighttime
activities for all ages, and celebrates one of the last remaining
sanctuaries of dark skies. Visitors are encourage to plan ahead for this
event, more information is found at:
http://www.nps.gov/brca/planyourvisit/astrofest.htm.
To help meet the demand for night sky interpretive programs, the
National Park Service Night Sky Program last year recruited 19 volunteer
astronomers from around the country who were then placed in national parks,
started a loaner telescope collection, produced audio podcasts and
brochures, and supported the stellar night sky poster art by Dr. Tyler
Nordgren, an astronomer at the University of Redlands, California.
Nordgren spent a one-year sabbatical in national parks where he
collected his experiences into a book and drafted the series of 14 posters
that harken to the Works Progress Administration posters of the 1930’s. The
full series of night sky posters is available for browsing at:
http://bulldog2.redlands.edu/fac/tyler_nordgren/Gallery/NationalParks/Parks.html
“Even though our sources of inspiration may change, the value of
national parks grows over time,” Director Jarvis said. “And as the backyard
starry sky is lost to urban America, people increasingly seek it in their
national parks.
“The night sky is every bit a part of the park as land, water,
wildlife and those famous sunrise and sunset scenes. It’s our
responsibility and our pleasure to preserve the night sky for this and
future generations.”
Visit us on-line: http://www.nature.nps.gov/air/lightscapes
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