The spread of electric light has been a boon to most of humanity, but one small subset of people hate it: astronomers. It’s getting harder and harder look at the stars because of light pollution from cities and towns. To solve this problem, governments around the world have started to designate dark-sky preserves where streetlights and other major sources of light pollution are forbidden.
Exmoor National Park, an unassuming patch of grassy land in the southwest of England, was designated as Europe’s first dark-sky preserve in 2011. In the daytime, Exmoor is a great place to soak in the sights of rural England and explore the network of ancient stone walls that crisscrosses the park’s fields. By night, the clear skies light up with millions of stars that you may never see in your light-polluted hometown.
If the brilliant stargazing of Exmoor sounds up your alley, it’s easy to get involved. There are organized night walks through the park’s bogs, and there are also stargazing-themed pub crawls for people who want to mix suds and stars.
Read the full article here: Stargazing in Europe’s First Dark-Sky Preserve
Leave a Reply