Flagstaff has demonstrated effective dark sky protection in an urbanized environment, proven by data. A measurement in 2016, and reported at the American Astronomical Society semiannual meeting in January 2017 [Footnote: Pipkin, Duriscoe, and Luginbuhl, 2017, AAS Bulletin], and in the Arizona Daily Sun (see image above), showed that the Flagstaff light dome is more than 90% fainter than that of similarly-sized Cheyenne Wyoming. In fact, since this measurement is only partially sensitive to a critical aspect of Flagstaff’s lighting standards (i.e. amber lighting), the benefits are even greater than indicated in this measurement.
The Milky Way is visible throughout Flagstaff, a city of over 75,000 residents.
This has not been accomplished with any magic – the approach can be applied anywhere. And if applied, can darken the sky by more than two astronomical magnitudes [Footnote: Luginbuhl et al., in preparation], bringing back visibility of the Milky Way for most residents in even large urban areas. Widespread application of TFS would change the bleak estimate of 80% of the American population living under skies that are too bright to see the Milky Way [Footnote: Falchi et al., 2016, The New World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness, Science Advances…], to less than 25%, restoring Milky Way visibility for over 50% of the population of the United States.
The dark skies movement has been raising awareness about the existence and value of dark skies for over 40 years. It is now time to take the next step and actually begin restoring the visibility of stars! Flagstaff has shown how to do it!
The Flagstaff Solution is a four-pronged approach:
- A concise, effective, and enforceable Lighting Code, (or codes and engineering guidelines), supported by
- Community Policies,
- Effective Implementation to assure that policies and codes achieve their goals, and
- A Community “Dark Sky Ethos,” fostered through engagement of diverse sectors of the community with the “Culture of Night,” to provide the vital support for the entire project.
Follow the links to explore these four elements in-depth