Sark, a small island 80 miles off the south coast of England, was recognized as the world’s first “Dark Sky Island” in 2011. With no street lights or cars, the island’s 600-strong community limits unnecessary lighting, allowing for exceptional stargazing opportunities. Other dark sky communities include locations in Scotland, California, Texas, Illinois, Indiana, and Arizona.
On a cloudless evening, against the backdrop of the Milky Way, which sparkles from horizon to horizon of the small island of Sark, one can see an explosion of stars and streaked meteors. One of the Channel Islands, Sark lies 80 miles (129km) off the south coast of England. In 2011, the International Dark-Sky Association recognized the exceptional nocturnal darkness of this Channel Island community as the world’s first “Dark Sky Island”. “If you go to a place like Sark, the Milky Way is a regular feature of the night sky. . It always fills me with a sense of wonder,” Steve Owens, an astronomer who lives on Sark, told The Guardian newspaper. “Each of those points is a sun and there are 100 billion of them. It makes me appreciate how special the Earth is.”
Life in the Heart of Darkness:
There are no street lights or cars polluting the night darkness on Sark Island. The island’s 600-strong community is also careful to limit any unnecessary lighting.
The only motor vehicles allowed on Sark are tractors, which pull supply trailers from the ports and, in an emergency, pull the island’s fire engine and ambulances.
Other dark sky communities include the Isle of Coll in Scotland, Borrego Springs in California, Dripping Springs in Texas, Homer Glen in Illinois, Beverly Shores in Indiana, and Flagstaff and Sedona in Arizona.
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