International Dark-Sky Association
The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) is a United States-based non-profit organization incorporated in 1988 by founders David Crawford, a professional astronomer, and Tim Hunter, a physician/amateur astronomer. The mission of the IDA is "to preserve and protect the night time environment and our heritage of dark skies through quality outdoor lighting."[1]
Founded | 1988 United States |
---|---|
Headquarters | Tucson, Arizona, United States |
Light pollution is the result of outdoor lighting that is not properly shielded, allowing light shine into the eyes and night sky. Direct light that shines into the eyes is called glare, and light directed into the night sky above the horizon causes skyglow. Lighting can also cause light trespass when it enters areas where unwanted (e.g. a neighbor's yard and windows). IDA was the first organization in the dark-sky movement, and is currently the largest.
Principal approach
IDA's principal approach is to raise awareness about the value of dark, star-filled night skies and encourage their protection and restoration through education about the problems and solutions, including outdoor lighting practices that create less light pollution. In 2011, the organization had about 5,000 members in 70 countries.
International Dark Sky Places
To promote awareness about the issues, the IDA has an International Dark Sky Places program that aims "to protect locations of exceptional nighttime visages for future generations." [2]
International Dark Sky Parks
- Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah, United States, designated 2006
- Cherry Springs State Park, Pennsylvania, United States, designated 2008
- Galloway Forest Park, Scotland, United Kingdom, designated 2009
- Zselic National Landscape Protection Area, Hungary, designated 2009
- Clayton Lake State Park, New Mexico, United States, designated 2010
- Goldendale Observatory State Park, Washington, United States, designated 2010, suspended 2016, revoked 2017
- Hortobágy National Park, Hungary, designated 2011
- The Headlands, Michigan, United States, designated 2011
- Observatory Park, Ohio, United States, designated 2011
- Big Bend National Park, Texas, United States, designated 2012
- Death Valley National Park, California, United States, designated 2013
- Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico, United States, designated 2013
- Northumberland National Park, England, United Kingdom, designated 2013
- Eifel National Park, Germany, designated 2014
- Mayland Community College Blue Ridge Observatory and Star Park, North Carolina, United States, designated 2014
- Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, Arizona, United States, designated 2014
- Hovenweep National Monument, Utah and Colorado, United States, designated 2014[3]
- Copper Breaks State Park, Texas, United States, designated 2014
- Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, Texas, United States, designated 2014
- Elan Valley Estate, Wales, United Kingdom, designated 2015[4]
- Yeongyang Firefly Eco Park, Yeongyang, South Korea, designated 2015[5]
- Mayo International Dark Sky Park, County Mayo, Republic of Ireland, designated 2016[6][7]
- Warrumbungle National Park, New South Wales, Australia, designated 2016[8][9]
- Dead Horse Point State Park, Utah, United States, designated 2016
- Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, Alberta, Canada and Montana, United States, designated 2017[10]
- Ramon Crater, Negev Desert, Israel, designated 2017[11]
- Kartchner Caverns State Park, Arizona, United States, designated 2017[12]
- Joshua Tree National Park, California, United States, designated 2017
- Obed Wild and Scenic River, Tennessee, United States, designated 2017
- Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California, United States, designated 2018[13]
- Iriomote-Ishigaki National Park, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, designated 2018
- Steinaker State Park, Utah, United States, designated 2018
- Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, United States, designated 2019
- Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado, United States, designated 2019[14]
- Hehuan Mountain, Nantou County, Taiwan, designated 2019[15]
- El Morro National Monument, New Mexico, United States, designated 2019[16]
- Kōzu-shima, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan, designated 2020
International Dark Sky Reserves
- Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, South Island, New Zealand, designated 2012
- Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales, United Kingdom, designated 2013
- Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve, Idaho, United States, designated 2017
- Exmoor National Park, England, United Kingdom, designated 2011
- Kerry International Dark-Sky Reserve, County Kerry, Ireland, designated 2014
- The Reserve at Mont-Mégantic, Quebec, Canada, designated 2008
- Moore's Reserve (South Downs), England, designated 2016
- NamibRand Nature Reserve, Namibia, Africa, designated 2012
- Pic du Midi, France, designated 2013
- Rhön Biosphere Reserve, Germany, designated 2014
- River Murray International Dark Sky Reserve, near Swan Reach, South Australia, designated 2019[17]
- Snowdonia National Park, Wales, designated 2015
- Westhavelland Nature Park, Germany, designated 2014
- Newport State Park, Wisconsin, United States, designated 2017
International Dark Sky Communities
- Flagstaff, Arizona, United States, designated 2001
- Borrego Springs, California, United States, designated 2009
- Sark, Channel Islands, designated 2011
- Homer Glen, Illinois, United States, designated 2011
- Coll in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, designated 2013[18]
- Dripping Springs, Texas, United States, designated 2014
- Beverly Shores, Indiana, United States, designated 2014[19]
- Sedona, Arizona, United States, designated 2014[20]
- Westcliffe and Silver Cliff, Colorado, United States, designated 2015[21]
- Thunder Mountain Pootsee Nightsky, Arizona, United States, designated 2015[22]
- Bon Accord, Alberta, Canada, designated 2015[23]
- Big Park/Village of Oak Creek, Arizona, designated 2014
- Horseshoe Bay, Texas, designated 2015
- Moffat, Scotland, designated 2016
- River Oaks, Texas, Dark Sky Friendly Development of Distinction, designated 2017
- Ketchum, Idaho, designated 2017
- Møn, Denmark & Nyord, Denmark, designated 2017
- Fountain Hills, Arizona, designated 2018
- Torrey, Utah, designated 2018
- Camp Verde, Arizona, designated 2018
- Wimberley and Woodcreek, Texas designated 2018
Fixture Seal of Approval
To promote the use of responsible outdoor lighting that minimizes light pollution, the IDA offers a Fixture Seal of Approval program. The program provides objective, third-party certification for lighting products that minimize glare, reduce light trespass, and do not pollute the night sky.[24]
See also
- Bortle Dark-Sky Scale
- Commission for Dark Skies
- CieloBuio, an Italian coordination for the protection of the night sky
- Dark-sky movement
- Dark-sky preserve
- Light pollution
- Sky brightness
References
- IDA Mission & Goals Archived 2009-03-28 at the Wayback Machine
- 'What is an International Dark Sky Place?', IDS Places
- "Hovenweep National Monument Named World's Newest International Dark Sky Park" (Press release). Tucson: SBWire. 2014-07-01. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
- "Elan Valley Estate gets Dark Sky Status". ITV News. 2015-07-17. Retrieved 2015-07-22.
- "Yeongyang Firefly Eco Park (South Korea)". Archived from the original on 2018-05-14. Retrieved 2017-03-31.
- "First International Dark Sky Park in Ireland Receives Accreditation". IDA. Retrieved 2017-05-06.
- "Mayo Dark Sky Park". ballycroynationalpark.ie. Retrieved 2017-05-06.
- http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2016/07/03/warrumbungles-becomes-australias-first-dark-sky-park/
- "First Dark Sky Park in Australia Designated". IDA. 2016-07-04.
- "2017: Summer Guide to Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park" (PDF). nps.gov. National Park Service. p. 1. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
- "Ramon Crater Named First International Dark Sky Place in the Mideast". IDA. 2017-09-14. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
- "Fifth International Dark Sky Park in Arizona Designated". IDA. 2017-08-31. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-02-26. Retrieved 2018-02-15.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "Great Sand Dunes Designated as International Dark Sky Park". IDA. 2019-05-10. Retrieved 2020-01-17.
- "Hehuan Mountain becomes Taiwan's first International Dark Sky Park". IDA. 2019-07-31. Retrieved 2019-08-02.
- December 17, on; 2019 (2019-12-17). "El Morro National Monument Certified as an International Dark Sky Park". International Dark-Sky Association. Retrieved 2020-01-04.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
- "The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA)". International Dark-Sky Association. 7 November 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
- "Isle of Coll secures 'dark isle' status". BBC News. 9 December 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
- Keagle, Lauri Harvey (2014-06-25). "Beverly Shores named world's seventh Dark Sky Community". NWI Times. Retrieved 2014-06-25.
- Heinsius, Ryan (2014-08-05). "Sedona Becomes the Newest International Dark Sky Community". KNAU. Retrieved 2014-08-05.
- "Two Colorado Towns Come Together as Colorado's First International Dark Sky Community status" (PDF). IDA. 9 March 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-07-31. Retrieved 2015-08-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "Alberta Town Named First International Dark Sky Community In Canada". International Dark-Sky Association. August 12, 2015. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
- "Fixture Seal of Approval". International Dark-Sky Association. 2014-09-04. Retrieved 2020-01-29.