“The sun is a star, a hot ball of glowing gases at the heart of our solar system. Its influence extends far beyond the orbits of distant Neptune and Pluto.” — NASA
“It astounds us to think about how just one snapshot can power a movement for conservation efforts by showing how practical and awe-inspiring dark sky-friendly lighting can be.” — Capture the Dark Photography Contest
Sunlight streams in through an east-facing window, painting the fieldstone fireplace in stripes of golden light rippling over ancient stones. Outdoors, oak leaves flash like mirrors in a breeze. Late summer flowering plants in gardens and at road’s edge shine with new definition, brilliance, and contrast as the Sun’s angle and the atmosphere change. The rising Sun is moving quickly from its summer reaches in the northeast towards its due-east position, to be marked on the Autumn Equinox, Saturday, September 23 at 2:50 a.m.
NASA recently announced a citizen-participatory initiative, the Heliophysics Big Year, to begin in October 2023. It is a tour de force global celebration of our solar system and the Sun’s influence on Earth and the entire solar system. For a riveting introduction to the scope of the program, please view the short film at the conclusion of this article.
Exploring our human connection to the universe of suns beyond our Sun, the lights of starry nights, DarkSky International just released the results of its Capture the Dark Photography Contest. Of the many categories, I selected the Dark Sky Place image, “Lily’s Whisper” by Ethan Su, which took First Prize.
Mr. Su’s description: “The fragrance of Lily attracts night moths dancing in the air, the mist covers Milky Way one after another, the gentle breeze carry fresh floral (scents) compose this pleasant summer night. Didn’t expect that Lily blossoms above 3000m altitude in summer, while I was scouting for new shooting spot in Hehuan Mountain Dark Sky Park.”
I learned, in correspondence with Ethan, that the moths eluded his camera, but that his friend, Chun-Chu Hsieh, photographed a great diversity of moths attracted to the windows of a convenience store. Of their generous offering, I chose this individual, labelled Xenoplia trivialis, as a close look-alike I found in a quick web search of lily pollinator moths.
Mr. Su lives within a four-hour drive of Taiwan’s Hehuan Mountain Dark Sky Park, where Lilium formosanum is a native. Nearly 200 protected lands and municipalities around the world have been certified by DarkSky as an International Dark Sky Place where people renew contact with the cosmos as experienced before the haze of light pollution came between humans and the natural night sky.
Ethan offers, “I would say this is the importance to preserve nature by controlling unnecessary artificial light pollution, to reduce the impact on the creatures in the night. I would also like appreciated for the volunteers in Taiwan put lots of effort to educate people and establish this dark sky park, let me have the good place to capture it and share the dark sky I love.”
Here in Massachusetts, the following statement was inspired by the Defending the Dark program organized in August by the Monterey Native Plants Working Group as part of its ongoing Backyard Ecologists series. A youth writes: “I wanted to write this statement because I went to the Defending Dark Skies presentation at Monterey Library. When the presentation got started, there was a documentary about dark skies in Maine. Astronomers were talking about the dark sky park in Maine. Then Destin Heilman started up a slideshow about how the dark skies are disappearing in front of our eyes! First there’s how when lights shine into the atmosphere stars get harder and harder to see. Then, when those bright lights shine into our eyes and we think, oh, it needs to be brighter. But no! That’s glare! Those bright blue lights are so bright that we can’t see anything. So, when people are driving on the road and glare gets into their eyes, they can’t see anybody crossing the street. Dr. Heilman also showed us examples of how glare can affect our eyes. I, Everett, am very concerned about light pollution. I went out last night and looked at the stars, and even at 1:30 in the morning, I could see the light to the North. I noticed, walking in the night, that there were a few lights on buildings that were very bright. I felt disappointed seeing the light blocking out the stars. I hope that people in Monterey turn their lights off to protect our dark skies.”
— Everett Kreider, age 9
Take action against light pollution at home, in your town, and in your state. Work toward creating a Dark Sky Park locally. Visit DarkSky’s website for a wealth of information and direction. In Massachusetts, there is IDA Massachusetts’ website and DarkSky Massachusetts’ Facebook page.
Video courtesy of NASA.