It’s Dark Skies Month, and state parks are celebrating with special events to commemorate April’s homage to starry nights.
Wasatch Mountain State Park hosted visitors on Friday for stargazing, astronomy crafts and games. But, naturalist Kathy Donnell also made an appearance at the event to discuss the importance of dark skies and why they should be both celebrated and protected.
A dark sky is any place where the night sky is relatively free from interference of artificial light, which doesn’t include aspects like the moon. Over time, our skies have been getting brighter due to the amount of artificial light in cities and states, Donnell said.
The International Dark Sky Places (IDSP) program certifies communities and protected areas that preserve and protect dark sites through education and smart lighting policies. Utah has the most certified international dark sky places in the world.
Canyonlands National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Steinaker State Park, Dinosaur National Monument and Antelope Island State Park are all dark-sky certified. So are communities like Helper, Moab, Castle Valley and Springdale.
Donnell said dark skies are important for the natural environment and essential for animals like migrating birds and turtles. Both follow light and star patterns and can fall into danger when they chase after artificial lights from cities or suburban neighborhoods.
“Wildlife needs (dark skies) for migration. They need it for hunting. They need it for pollination, and they need it for shelter,” Donnell said.
But dark skies are also crucial for the health of humans, she said.
“We need a day-night cycle. We can’t live with the lights on all the time,” Donnell said. “We can’t be up and going 24 hours a day.”
The night and day cycles we follow as humans help promote restful sleep. Donnell said interruption of that cycle interferes with certain body functions like the production of melatonin — a hormone produced in response to darkness, which regulates the body’s circadian rhythm.
“That’s a really important cycle for our bodies to stay healthy. So we might not have as much melatonin if we have light on, including TVs, cell phones, computers,” Donnell said. “We really need to turn those things off so that our bodies can shut down naturally and produce melatonin, which helps the immune system and helps with obesity, diabetes and heart problems.”
Donnell said there are a few things people can do to protect dark skies. The simplest? Turn off the lights.
“That’s the easiest thing to do,” Donnell said.
But outdoor lights can also be fixed with a shield over the top to direct beams downward. That helps with glare and with what Donnell calls “sky glow.”
“Cities are making the sky glow,” Donnell said. “It’s affecting our dark skies.”
When possible, Donnell said using red lights can help both dark skies and people’s health and wellness.
“The biggest thing is health. We think we are invincible and just need to get more done, so we keep the lights on, and we keep working into the night when we really would do better by going to bed and having a good night’s sleep with darkness in our room,” Donnell said. “And just the little things that people can do, turning off their lights when they’re not needed.”
Jordanelle State Park will host its own stargazing event on Wednesday: a meteor shower viewing party at the Rock Cliff Nature Center from 8:30 p.m. until 10 p.m.