TOWNS AND CITIES should start dimming, or even switching off, lights to create darker skies so the stars can be seen over Scotland, according to astronomers.
The calls come ahead of Scotland's first European Dark Sky Places Conference in Dumfries and Galloway this week, held close to the country's only Dark Sky Park in Galloway Forest. It will look at new responses to light pollution, now considered a major global issues for the 21st century.
An international panel of astronomers, including John Brown, Astronomer Royal for Scotland, leading light designers, conservationists and earth scientists will consider the impact of light on sky clarity and the role of darkness on the health and wellbeing of both humans and our ecosystem.
With the Scottish island of Coll and Dumfries and Galloway town of Moffat already awarded Dark Sky community status due to restrictions put on everything from street to security lights, a growing number of experts are calling for towns and cities across the country to follow suit.
It is claimed it would both allow people to see the night stars and the Milky Way, and save millions of pounds worth of energy.
Research suggests that artificial light at night can negatively affect human health, increasing risks for obesity, depression, sleep disorders, diabetes and breast cancer. As well as health benefits, darker skies help nocturnal birds, bats and bugs and create opportunities to develop out of season astro-tourism, including night sky tours and experiences.
On top of refitting lights to ensure that no light pollution shines upwards into the sky, town and city authorities could set street light timers, it has been suggested, with those in quieter areas dimmed late at night, or even set on motion sensors to come on only when people walk past.
Despite safety fears associated with darker streets, some studies have shown crime in fact goes down where lights are dimmed.
Keith Muir, head of visitor services, for Galloway Forest's Dark Sky Park, claimed it was important to be able to see the solar system. "There are a huge number of benefits," he said listing those from addressing climate change to human health. "There are many possibilities to dim the lights by up to 80 percent in certain areas and at certain times or to have some places motion activated. There are costs attached [to having the technology available] but there also a lot of savings which could come from it."
Steve Owens, formerly Scotland's leading dark skies consultant and now director of the Cawick Multiverse – an art installation exploring the solar system – said that there was a growing awareness and interest in the benefits of cutting light pollution, largely driven by existence of Scotland's Dark Sky Park, the fourth in the world when it was accredited in 2009. There are now over 50 globally.
He said many councils now recognised the need for new lighting to be "night sky friendly" meaning light should never shine up, where it would do nothing but damage. Owens also claimed it would be possible to increase the number of dark communities across Scotland. "It could also happen in cities," he added. Yet he admitted that despite studies showing crime rates do not rise when lights are dimmed, it was also important that people's intrinsic fears of the dark were acknowledged.
Bob Mizon, co-ordinator of the Campaign for Dark Skies, said: "It must be stressed that we are not trying to switch people's lights off. What we are calling for is more careful control of lighting."
Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said Scotland was leading the way in dark sky conservation. "A number of Councils in the south west have bought into the benefits of dark sky places and taken measures to reduce artificial light levels," she added. "We can share this good practice and reduce energy consumption at the same time – a win win situation."
What you'll see if our skies are dark
Orion: one of the most conspicuous and recognisable constellations in the night sky, it is named after Orion, a hunter in Greek mythology.
The Plough: also known as the Big Dipper, it consists of seven bright stars of the constellation, four defining a "bowl" or "body" and three defining a "handle" or "head".
Cassiopea: easily recognisable due to its distinctive 'W' shape, Cassiopea is formed by five bright stars and is opposite the Big Dipper.
Pleiades: also known as the Seven Sisters these are a star cluster dominated by hot blue and extremely luminous stars that have formed within the last 100 million years. It is the nearest cluster to Earth and most obvious to the naked eye.
Cygnus: a northern constellation lying on the plane of the Milky Way, it features a prominent asterism known as the Northern Cross.
Jupiter and its moons: the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the solar system, this giant planet is equivalent to two and a half times that of all the other planets combined.
Milky Way - with full control of lighting the galaxy that contains our solar system would become more evident. From Earth, the Milky Way appears as a band because its disk-shaped structure is viewed from within and side on.
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