World's First 'Dark Sky' Island

Imagine a place without light until sunrise. Now imagine that spot surrounded by water.

The Channel Island of Sark, which lies about 80 miles south of England, has been designated the world's first dark-sky island, according to Yahoo buzz.

It's a stargazer's paradise.

The dark-sky movement, as it's come to be known, calls for communities to embrace the idea of creating little to no light pollution. The International Dark-Sky Association bestows the title on communities.

Dark-sky legislation has been adopted by 300 counties, cities and towns, according to the Burlington Free Press. In 2001, The IDA deemed Flagstaff, Arizona the world's first "International Dark-Sky City."

The Channel Island of Sark is just 3 miles long by 1.5 miles wide, but was selected by the IDA for the quality of its night sky, making it the first island to be honored with the recognition, according to SPACE.com.

"This is a great achievement for Sark," Roger Davies, president of the Royal Astronomical Society in the United Kingdom, said in a statement, according to SPACE. "People around the world are becoming increasingly fascinated by astronomy as we discover more about our universe, and the creation of the world's first dark sky island in the British Isles can only help to increase that appetite."

Sark Island light pollution was first audited before it could be awarded the title. However, the island having no public street lighting, no paved roads and no cars, in addition to its seclusion, certainly didn't hurt its chances for receiving the honor

Comments

[IMOPINIONH8D]

08:26 AM on 02/05/2011

Put the teaparty in power and all of America will meet the requirements of a "Dark Sky Nation". No roads and who could afford an electric bill.

[forestnfama]

02:07 PM on 02/03/2011

The stars of Minas are bright and numerous..

[vonbotto]

12:04 PM on 02/03/2011

Has North Korea received its award yet? There's little to no light pollution there.

[chucknchar]

11:48 AM on 02/03/2011

Night skys are awesome, I camped in Michigan one summer in a campground and I heard all the comments from different camp sites about the night sky.

[ben616]

12:29 AM on 02/03/2011

The stars at night are big and bright...

[shiny73]

02:07 PM on 02/04/2011

deep in the heart of Texas.

Couldn't resist finishing that baby off.

[ben616]

07:23 PM on 02/04/2011

Much obliged.
Surprised it took so long.

[momcat4obama]

12:21 AM on 02/03/2011

I have a friend who lives out in the middle of nowhere. First thing he does is put up one of those mercury vapor lights that comes on automatically at night. We were sitting out on his porch one night, and i was bugging him to turn the damn thing off - he refused. Even when i took him around a corner of the house where the light was not glaring, and showed him a satellite cruising across the sky - he'd never seen one before, thought it was really cool, and still refused to turn off his freakin' light. ugh.

[imtruthmonger]

09:36 AM on 02/03/2011

An insecurity-based remnant of childhood?

[Jimmy Gondek]

10:49 AM on 02/03/2011

It is a common misconception that obtrusive lighting is a deterrent to crime. In fact, in many instances it is an invitation to criminal activity. The IDA, the New England Light Pollution Advisory Group (NELPAG), the British Astronomical Association, Light Pollution dot Org (UK) and the Astronomical Society of Victoria (Australia) (to name a few) along with the Feds from both the US and UK having published their findings on this...

http://docs.darksky.org/PG/ida_safety_brochure.pdf
http://nelpag.harvee.org/
http://www.britastro.org/dark-skies/crime.html
http://www.lightpollution.org.uk/index.php?pageId=7
http://www.asv.org.au/odlighting/node4.html
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/prgpdfs/fcpu28.pdf

From Light Pollution dot Org, "The "Majority of Crimes" occur during the day and in lighted environments.
In 1977, the US Department of Justice set out to evaluate the relationship between lighting and crime, and concluded in their Phase I Final Report:- “there is a strong indication that increased lighting . . .only decreases the fear of crime”
(National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, July 1977)."

It turns out that the criminals are both as afraid of the dark as we are, and they like to see what they are doing!

Peace,
Jimmy G

[Rich Phitzwell]

03:30 PM on 02/04/2011

Ive witness motion lights being highly effective though.

[LMPE]

12:17 AM on 02/03/2011

Perfect setting for a slasher movie.

[DrTrick]

03:13 PM on 02/03/2011

Having been to Sark, i can tell you there is no place less apt for such a film. Unless it was done in a Hot Fuzz comedic way.

[Mississippi Red]

11:58 PM on 02/02/2011

I lived in Flag for years and the night skies there and in the desert are mind-bending. Thats when I killed my teevee and went outside on the porch most every night instead.

Whats really cool is that the reduction in light polution really wasn't a sacrifice, saves energy, reduces carbon footprint, etc..... But the teabaggers where I live would buy the biggest spotlights they could and shine them into the sky at night merely out of spite if the 'gubment' tried to pass dark-sky legislation.

[Marioam]

01:02 AM on 02/03/2011

Living in the countryside in New Mexico, I loved the night sky. We had motion lights if anyone came around at night, but other then that the night beloned to a sky so filled with stars that they covered the horizons in all directions. Even in winter when the weather permitted we would go out bundled up and just watch the Universe move. Where I live now in Louisana there are so many house lights at night you can hardly see the sky, but still I found a small dark place in my backyard that lets me at lest some of that beautiful night sky.

[Das Hirschenhofer 11]

08:12 AM on 02/03/2011

As a truck drive (O.T.R.) for 25 years...I use to stop just outside the Flag to look at the sky. Unbelievable scenery there;c) The vast amount of stars seen there is staggering beyond belief. My Mom lives in Ft.Mohave, AZ in the NW corner of the state....we use to be able to watch stars there...but so many people have moved there that their ambient lighting has killed the view. Now you have to go south of town about 5-10 miles to see good again. Sad

[Jenna Bean]

11:46 PM on 02/02/2011

When my husband moved from Chicago to Virgnina the culture shock wasnt that bad. But watching him look at the stars was pretty funny.

And cute :3

I cant imagine being in a place like this! SOUNDS AWESOME!

[DeanWormer]

10:18 PM on 02/02/2011

I'm guessing that some time in the past there have been other islands that get really dark at night.

[Roseberry]

08:30 PM on 02/02/2011

My bucket list has this at the very top: To go someplace where I can see all the stars without any light pollution - or as little as possible.

[BeachWar]

10:22 PM on 02/02/2011

It's so amazing! Do it sooner than later.

[CSKAP]

09:34 AM on 02/03/2011

Many of the islands in Micronesia ae light free.
Beautiful night skies

[JRonin]

08:24 PM on 02/02/2011

I remember during the northeast blackout in 2003 going outside at night in Toronto and looking up. It was really awe-inspiring, it's like a veil had been removed between us and the universe. This is a great idea.

[Tunghoy]

07:24 PM on 02/02/2011

I can see Galaxy M31 from Sark island.

[cedy]

11:34 PM on 02/02/2011

I heard Sarah Palin can see the moon from Sark Island

[nomadrdw]

05:53 PM on 02/02/2011

one needs nothing more than to see the Milky Way and know the universe is full of wonder

[tarlipps]

08:17 PM on 02/02/2011

and how really, really, really small we are.....................

[InterstellarWar]

09:47 PM on 02/02/2011

lovely thought

[nomadrdw]

05:48 PM on 02/02/2011

i wonder how many of our children would have an interest in science if they could see the stars at night, instead of just the glow of city lights. i remember seeing shooting stars and the Milky Way as a kid. now you only see a very few of the brightest stars and seldom do i see meteors enter the atmosphere anymore.