By Kevin Ma
Bon Accord will soon be the place to be for stargazers now that it's become the first community in Canada recognized for protecting the night sky.
The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) announced earlier this month that it had designated Bon Accord as an International Dark Sky Community – the first such place in Canada and one of only 11 in the world.
The Arizona-based organization uses this title to recognize places that show exceptional dedication to the preservation of the night sky through lighting codes, education, and citizen support.
This title promotes Bon Accord's identity as a rural place with clean air and wide, open spaces, said town Mayor Randolph Boyd, and should promote the commnity as a tourist destination.
"It signifies that this is who we are and puts us on the map."
Dark skies, brighter future
The dark sky push is the brainchild of Patrick Earl, the town's economic development officer and an amateur astronomer. The push has been in the works since 2012.
Dark sky preserves are a growing tourist trend in local parks and the U.S., and the town felt that getting this title could help draw more tourists, Earl said.
"Every culture on Earth throughout history has always used the sky for stories," he continued, and Bon Accord wants to preserve its night sky as part of its rural culture.
About 40 per cent of all lighting is wasted as it shoots off in unwanted directions, said Scott Feierabend, the IDA's executive director.
That wasted light not only wastes energy and money, but it also makes migrating birds smack into buildings and tricks baby sea turtles into crawling away from the sea, Feierabend said. Health research suggests that too much light at night can raise people's risk of cancer and obesity.
Excess light also makes it really tough to see space, said Murray Paulson, a St. Albert-based amateur astronomer.
"When I first moved here 25 years ago, I could actually see Pluto from my backyard," he said. Now, light pollution from the city makes that impossible.
Light-level readings in Bon Accord suggest that the town's night sky is about as dark as the one above the Strathcona Wilderness Centre, Earl said – dark enough to see the Milky Way and most of the Little Dipper.
Bon Accord took 10 different steps and completed a 112-page application to the IDA to earn its new title, Earl said.
One of the biggest steps was the town's new light efficient community standards bylaw that sets maximum illumination levels for different parts of town and creates curfews after which outdoor lights must be extinguished or reduced by 30 per cent.
Another is the town's $89,000 effort to replace all its streetlights with full-cutoff ones this summer, Earl said. The new lights provide the same amount of illumination as the old ones but do so using just 66 watts instead of 100 each –they're designed to shoot all their illumination downwards instead of up or off to the side (as is the case with regular lights), which reduces waste.
Other steps include construction of a night-vision-safe digital sign, a public education campaign on light pollution, and the town's ongoing plans to build a large observatory.
Paulson said he hasn't been stargazing in Bon Accord before, but might check it out now that it has received this title. He also hoped St. Albert would make more use of the full-cutoff streetlights it currently has along Ray Gibbon Drive to reduce its light pollution.
"I would love to be able to look at some of the things in the night sky without having to resort to driving for a half hour just to get away from the light pollution of this city."
The town plans to celebrate its new dark sky title at its fourth annual equinox festival this Sept. 19, Earl said.
