A Dark Skies Community

The Bruce Peninsula has been designated a “Dark Skies” Community. Many of us dream of walking out our back door and being engulfed by a night sky so beautiful, so splendid, so overwhelming, that a telescope is not even required to appreciate it. Our ancestors knew such a sky. Without our vigilance, our children and their children will not. It is up to our generation to bring back the night.

Here are some general impressions of a night sky that is unaffected by light pollution.
• Stars are visible much closer to the horizon and there are so many that constellations can be difficult to see!
• Many more meteors are visible. • The Milky Way is exceptionally bright with tremendous structure and contrast between the obscured and uninsured regions.
• A wide and diffuse band of the Milky Way towards Scorpius can be seen, whereas normally one sees only the brighter and narrower Sagittarius band in the southern sky (if that).
• There is a huge “black spot” in the sky just north of Deneb.
• Dark nebulae along the Milky Way are easily seen in binoculars and small telescopes.
• The Milky Way can be seen extending from horizon to horizon.
• Faint parts of the Milky Way in Taurus/ Auriga/Gemini are easily visible to the unaided eye.
• The starry sky casts noticeable shadows.
• You can easily see your nearby surroundings by nothing more than the light of the Milky Way.
• Your horizons are utterly black. • Low clouds appear pitch black against the sky.
• Thin cirrus layers do not significantly diminish the view.
• Unlike light polluted areas, haze does not significantly affect sky quality at night for stars that are not too close to the horizon.
• In a dry climate, or at high altitude, there is no appreciable dimming of the stars (or decrease in the perceived density of stars) from the zenith to the horizon.
• The zodiacal light can be easily seen stretching high up into the sky. — Article from the International Dark-Sky Association, www.darksky.org