Nighttime visitors to Death Valley National Park can easily spot constellations in the night sky. As a reward for this remarkable view of stars and planets in the sky over the park, the California destination has been awarded a gold certification as an International Dark Sky Park -- the third unit of the National Park System to earn that distinction.
One of the requirements for this certification is that the "typical observer is not distracted by glary light sources. Light domes are only dim and restricted to sky close to horizon" and "the full array of visible sky phenomena can be viewed-e.g. aurora, airglow, Milky Way, zodiacal light, and faint meteors," The National Parks Traveler reported.
National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis commended Death Valley for its superb sky views, and said he is honored that the park received the dedication.
"Death Valley is a place to gaze in awe at the expanse of the Milky Way, follow a lunar eclipse, track a meteor shower, or simply reflect on your place in the universe," Jarvis said to The National Parks Traveler. "We greatly appreciate the International Dark-Sky Association certification. It illustrates the park's commitment to protect natural darkness and supports the wider mission to protect nightscapes in the entire National Park System.
"As the world becomes more urbanized," Jarvis added, "the value of a starry sky only increases and our ability to offer visitors these incredible experiences is an integral part of the National Park Service mission to preserve our nation's most cherished places for this and future generations."
Death Valley's natural darkness - coupled with the National Park Service's actions to cut down on outdoor lighting, led the International Dark-Sky Association to offer the park this recognition, as the third and largest International Dark Sky Park.
"Death Valley's night skies are a thing of beauty that everyone should have a chance to see," Bob Parks, the association's executive director, told The National Parks Traveler. "We hope that the action the park has taken to preserve the night sky within its borders will inspire surrounding communities to follow their example," said Bob Parks, the association's executive director."
To qualify for this designation, the park had to improve external lighting at facilities in its Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells area - cutting down on energy usage, sky glow and glare. With this designation, the park must continue to protect night sky resources, and educate its visitors.
"The Dark Sky Park designation represents not only the efforts of the park and its partners, but the dedication of avid amateur astronomers who have sought the park's world-class starry skies for decades," Dan Duriscoe, of the Park Service's Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division, told The National Parks Traveler.
Astronomy organizations attend monthly night sky programs and stargazing events offered by park rangers at Death Valley. Looking through high-powered telescopes, they can peer at the lit up night sky.
"At Death Valley the sky literally begins at your feet," Tyler Nordgren, associate professor of Physics at the University of Redlands (Calif.) and International Dark-Sky Association board member, told The National Parks Traveler. "When my students and I look up at night from our southern California campus, we can usually count 12 stars in the sky. However, less than a five-hour drive from Los Angeles there's a place where anyone can look up and see the universe the way everyone could 100 years ago."
The park's efforts to reduce unnecessary lighting connect with "Starry, Starry Night," one of the goals in A Call to Action-the National Park Service's stewardship and engagement priorities for its second century.
Death Valley isn't the only national park to gain this gold certification -- Natural Bridges National Monument in Utah and Big Bend National Park in Texas were honored for their night sky visibility, as well.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
