STARS AND STRIPES: PRESERVING THE DARK OF NIGHT WITH DR. JEFFREY HALL

Genre – Q+A

The topic of light pollution is little known to many yet is incredibly important and connected to other issues of how we care for our planet. While a need to conquer the darkness with artificial light might be a natural impulse in one way, the need to commune with the night sky is even more fundamental ~ from the exhilaration of connecting with the sanctity of the star-filled sky and beyond to preserving the balance of the life cycles of diverse fauna including birds, insects, sea life … and humans.

Please join us for an informative evening starting with a few words by local-born National Geographic photographer and adventurer Pete McBride who will introduce our guest speaker Dr. Jeffrey Hall. Dr. Hall is the Executive Director of the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona and will share with us Lowell’s ongoing legacy of cutting-edge research of our solar system and beyond using the Lowell Discovery Telescope ~ and how that research began to be challenged by the quiet, steady invasion of light pollution. As a result, Dr. Hall worked extensively on dark sky preservation in Flagstaff and throughout Arizona; his dedication resulted in Flagstaff becoming the World’s First International Dark Sky City in 2001. 

This program is a free event sponsored by the Snowmass Capitol Creek Caucus in partnership with TACAW to champion our quest to become the first certified International Dark Sky Community in the Roaring Fork Valley, advocating for awareness and action valley-wide to reduce local light pollution.