StarWeek 2000
(mnassa, 2000 April, vol 59, 3&4, p 11-12.)
Astronomers (including John Caldwell of the SAAO, Cliff Turk, Tony Jones, Rupert Hurly, Chris de Villiers of the ASSA), lighting engineers and members of the tourism community have been working together to promote public awareness of our night skies.
Together with the Western Cape Tourism Board, a committee has been set up to market the concept of a dark sky week. In conjunction with Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens in Cape Town, "StarWeek 2000" has been launched, during which numerous evening talks and public telescope viewings were held.
The "StarWeek" concept is intended as an annual event, to generate publicity through public lectures and presentations in the media. The intention is also to establish a network with good communication between the stakeholders in the darksky issue, who include astronomers & planetariums, lighting engineers, provincial tourism boards & local tourism bureaus, environmentalists & conservationists, and architectural organizations.
Caldwell describes the basic themes as:
–sharing with everyone the beauty of the southern sky,
–making the southern sky more of an asset to tourism
–encouraging an interest in good outdoor lighting to reduce the waste, bad environmental effects, and loss of our ability to see the starry sky caused by poor lighting choices.
He sketches the underlying issues as:
–well-designed lighting (cut-off, correct aim, height and spacing, versus glare, light pollution, obtrusive light, older people blinded by glare)
–cheaper lighting (economy versus excessive light, waste, lights on when unneeded)
–star-friendly lighting (enjoyment of the sky for all, tourism for rural South Africa, astronomical science, "pristine" natural appearance and ecology versus hiding the starry sky, harm to birds and other wildlife, garish-obtrusive "spoiled" appearance)
–appropriate lighting (safety, security, good visibility for roads, businesses, office buildings, adverts and symbolic monuments versus lighting in poor taste, wasteful, causing glare and light pollution)
A "Dark Sky Week" is being held from 5 to 12 March 2000; an account of the activities will appear in the May–June MNASSA.
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