It’s hard to imagine a better place for an astronomy festival than a national park designated as a dark-sky park by the International Dark-Sky Association.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in southwest Colorado is such a place, and it will be hosting its annual AstroFest event Thursday through Sunday, Sept. 22-24. Some events will be held in the town of Montrose, 12 miles west of the park.
Black Canyon, one of 115 official international dark-sky parks, is staging the event in cooperation with the Black Canyon Astronomical Society. There will be stargazing opportunities at the park’s South Rim campground on Friday and Saturday and the Montrose Botanic Garden on Thursday. Telescopes will be provided.
There will be other activities and lectures, too. Sharolyn Anderson, a scientist with the Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division of the National Parks System, will speak Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Centennial Room at the Montrose City Hall, and on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the park’s South Rim campground amphitheater.
In her presentation at the park, Anderson will talk about reducing light levels to support the environment and visitor experiences in national parks. She’ll also explain what the park service’s Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division does to promote dark and quiet nights in its parks and other areas it administers. In Montrose, she will focus on what communities near national parks can do to help.
“This is a big problem, light pollution in general,” Anderson said in an interview. “As a park, there’s not a lot we can do outside of our boundaries, but we can, as individuals, do things to help. In Montrose, I will talk about the benefits of natural night skies with well-designed outdoor lighting. There are two or three websites you can go to look at your individual towns and see how light pollution is affecting them. I’ll talk a little about science, why (promoting dark skies) matters to our eyes, and the research on how natural night skies benefit human health, wildlife and ecosystems in general.”
Three of Colorado’s four national parks are on the list of international dark-sky parks. In addition to Black Canyon, the others are Great Sand Dunes and Mesa Verde. Rocky Mountain National Park is not on the list.
For more information on AstroFest, consult the park’s website.
