You Can Help Springdale’s Dark Sky Effort Even If You Don’t live There

Now that the city of Springdale has been designated an official International Dark Sky Community, you should be able to get a much better look at the night sky from there. To become a certified, a place has to be nominated and then an application process. This is from the DarkSky site. 

These pristine dark areas provide visitors access to the natural, cultural, and historical resource that is the night sky. Typical nighttime conditions characterizing the site must be consistent with or exceed the following criteria:  

1, The Milky Way is readily visible to the unaided eye. 

2. There are no nearby artificial light sources yielding significant glare. 

3. Any light domes present are dim, restricted in extent, and close to the horizon. 

I like that Springdale has taken this step to reveal the night sky, especially since it is so close to Zion National Park. In fact, even if we live in other parts of Southern Utah, we can help out with the effort. Here are my suggestions: 

1. If you live in St. George, don’t even point a flashlight in their direction much less the brights on your car. 

2. If you have east facing windows, pull the curtains or lower the blinds. 

2. Only light stadium lights on the away stands.

4. Wear a hat if you are bald and you reflect light off your shiny dome.

5. Maybe we can pray for cloud cover when the moon is full. 

Just kidding. I don’t mean to trivialize what is being done. I’m all for seeing the stars better.  

There’s a story that Los Angeles had a power outage back in the 90's and some people called 911 because they had never seen the Milky Way before. That is kind of pathetic if it is true.