Milky Way Natural Park

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Milky Way Natural Park

• Dr. Tyler Nordgren
• University of Redlands

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Glacier National Park
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Dan Duriscoe, Chad Moore, NPS Night Sky Team
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Bryce Canyon Tyler Nordgren
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What we see
Cygnus (overhead)
Sagittarius (southern horizon)
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Altair and the Milky Way Tyler Nordgren
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Lagoon Nebula
U.S. Naval Observatory
Amateur telescope
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Artists Concept of Milky Way NASA/JPL
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NGC 891
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How Dark is it?

• Can you see the Dancing Horse?
• The Pipe Nebula?
• The Great Rift?
• The Northern Extent?
• The Lagoon Nebula?
• The Southern Extent?
• Anything?

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Light Pollution
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Light Pollution
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Western USA National Parks Units
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• NPS Night Sky Team
• Mission and Vision
• Recognize Importance of Dark Sky Resource
• Integrate with Mandates
• Assess Threat to Resource
• Collect Baseline Inventory
• Standardize Measurement
• Support Parks in Management (facility lighting,
  education, outreach, planning, etc.)
• Take a Leadership Role and Reduce Light Pollution

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Anderson Mesa site of NPOI and Lowell Observatory
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Second Row image, large format cameras
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Measurement locations and circle sizes
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Death Valley Furnace Creek February 11, 2004
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Lake Mead Government Wash SKY -9.72 LV
-9.03 53
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Petrified Forest Water Tank Petrified Forest
Inn SKY -6.98
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Data posted on the web at http//www2.nature.nps.g
ov/air/lightscapes
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What you can do
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Direct Waste- 50
Glare- 10
Productive- 40
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Light Pollution
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Light Pollution
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Poor Lighting - Glare - Casts light up and to the
side - Not Designed - No adherence to standards -
Can often be retrofitted
Good Lighting - Used when and where needed -
Controlled illumination pattern - Proper light
level - Horizontal cutoff - Uses less energy
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McGraw Ranch Rocky Mountain NP
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Lake Yellowstone Hotel Yellowstone NP
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www.darksky.org
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The Night Sky as a Cultural Landscape
The Ultimate Cultural Resource --Jerry Rogers
and Joe Sovick, George Wright Forum, 2000 terms
such as historic, cultural, and heritage
preservation. generally imply places and
things that are created by human hands and meet
criteria for the National Register. However,
Rogers, as Keeper of the National Register, had
contributed to defining the concept of cultural
landscapes. In general, landscape architects had
led the cause in defining historic and cultural
values in designed landscapes, such as gardens
and some parks geographers had focused upon
landscapes that reflected less-formal human
activity and American Indian tribes and
anthropologists had focused upon landscapes that
were important because of values or beliefs
projected upon the landscapes by human societies.
In a few cases, large tracts of land, prominent
topographical features, and even entire mountains
(e.g., Bear Butte in South Dakota) had been
listed in the National Register because of
cultural values and traditional beliefs projected
upon them. Sovick and Rogers suggest that this
concept could be applied to the nighttime visible
universe. --In 1999, the New Mexico Historic
Preservation Alliance declared the New Mexico
Night Sky as one of the state's "Most Endangered"
cultural resources. --Governor signs New
Mexico Night Sky Protection Act of 1999, the
purpose of which is to regulate outdoor night
lighting fixtures to preserve and enhance the
state's dark sky while promoting safety,
conserving energy and preserving the environment
for astronomy.   
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A cultural landscape is defined as "a geographic
area,including both cultural and natural
resources and the wildlife or domestic animals
therein, associated with a historic event,
activity, or person or exhibiting other cultural
or aesthetic values. Dark Sky
Preserves and Dark Sky Parks are essentially
Cultural Landscapes, a night time scene that has
powerful historic, cultural, and aesthetic
significance.
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Death Valley National Park
Dan Duriscoe, Chad Moore, NPS Night Sky Team
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Arches National Park
Dan Duriscoe, NPS
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Tyler Nordgren
Rocky Mountain National Park
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Tyler Nordgren
Glacier National Park
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Thank you
Stars Above, Earth Below
www.Planetary.org/Parks