Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Dark Sky topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Parks staff report strong dark‑sky readings; board considers formalizing measurement spots
Summary
Parks staff reported multiple sky‑quality meter readings showing very dark night‑sky values at several Harbor Park locations and proposed establishing repeatable measurement points to validate the park’s ‘keep it dark’ policy and for outreach.
Bob, presenting the park’s darkness report, told the board he and volunteers identified candidate measurement points in Harbor Park — behind the water intake, lake side of bathhouses two and four, and near Sweetheart Bluff — and ran sky‑quality meter readings that he reported as approximately 19.9–20.6 magnitudes per arcsecond squared (mag/arcsec^2), values the presenter described as “incredibly dark” for a community park.
Bob said the measurements were taken under variable conditions and that a scientifically rigorous, reportable value would require readings taken after astronomical twilight on a new moon, temperature records and multiple readings per site. He recommended selecting one or two reliable sites and formalizing repeatable procedures so the park could report validated dark‑sky measurements to interested astronomical organizations.
The board discussed practical matters — communications with park users, the potential PR benefit of a formal dark‑sky designation, and the difficulty of collecting consistent midnight readings during summer months. Staff noted the park’s current policy asks visitors to limit unnecessary lighting and that some campers had responded positively to the policy language in reservation emails.
What’s next: staff will attempt more formalized measurements at the next new moon, consult local Starry Skies chapter volunteers for methodology and reporting format, and consider publishing a simple dark‑sky update on the park website if repeatable results are obtained.
