Discovering the night sky: pinpointing stargazing sites for more eyes

Communities across England will have a twinkle in their eye and get a big environmental and educational boost thanks to Dark Sky Discovery (link opens in a new window) - a pioneering new national and regional partnership of astronomy and environmental organisations led by the Science and Technology Facilities Council.

A £176.8k grant, funded by the Big Lottery Fund and awarded through Natural England's Access to Nature (link opens in a new window)programme, will support a 2-year programme to inspire people of all ages and backgrounds to come together in their local area and enjoy the night sky in a radically new way.

Working with astronomy, environmental and community organisations in every English region, the aim is to involve people in identifying safe, accessible "Dark Sky Discovery Sites" - places in urban and rural areas where they can take part in stimulating stargazing sessions. A series of Dark Sky Discovery Sites has been unveiled in England - and also in Wales and Scotland - illustrating the range of great local spots that people can use for stargazing.

Project Leader, Dan Hillier, based at the STFC's Royal Observatory Edinburgh (link opens in a new window)site, says: "In every community there is somewhere that is the best place to see the stars. Even in towns and cities, there are places such as local parks where people can enjoy the wonders of the night sky, from planets to meteor showers. This project will find ways of helping people from a whole range of different backgrounds - such as schools, community and special needs groups, to discover the universe that is just beyond their doorstep."

The project is funding activity in nine English regions so that astronomy and environmental organisations can work with community groups to harness local dark skies for local priorities.

Participants at the national launch event on 24 October at Lee Valley Regional Park (link opens in a new window) include members of the Waltham Forest Blind Association. Caroline Waddon from the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) who is visually impaired and has been advising the Dark Sky Discovery project, says, "Community stargazing evenings have a great buzz to them and I have been amazed by the ways in which blind and partially-sighted people can be enabled to feel part of them through activities involving rocks from space, sound and 3D models."

Tony Fox, from Cannon Hill People's Park in Birmingham, is leading the programme in the West Midlands. He says, "We are launching our Dark Sky programme during our wide-ranging celebrations for the Dewali Festival of Lights, which attracts thousands of people from a mix of cultural backgrounds to the park, to inspire them with astronomy and the night sky."

In the South West, the project's lead partner is Exmoor National Park which recently announced its new status as England's first International Dark Sky Reserve.  Emma Dennis, Landscape Officer at the National Park says: "This project gives us a great opportunity to involve communities in and around the National Park in promoting our award winning dark skies as well as the conservation of the resource for the benefit to local people and visitors alike."

Other darker areas in the UK that also have Dark Sky Discovery Sites are the Lake District, Kielder Forest and the Brecon Beacons National Park.  There are several sites in Scotland, including Skye and Morayshire, where there is already strong community interest in dark skies.

Liz Newton, Natural England's Director for Access and Engagement said, "The night sky can be spectacular and this initiative provides a great way for communities to share and experience an often overlooked part of our natural environment."

The project is partnering with the hugely popular BBC Stargazing Live which will be broadcasting its second series on 16-18 January 2012.

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Notes to editors

Contacts

• Stephanie Hills
  STFC Media Manager
  Tel: +44 (0)1235 445 398
• Dan Hillier
  Visitor Centre Manager
  Royal Observatory, Edinburgh
  Tel: +44 (0)7821 800 356
• Big Lottery Fund Press Office
  Tel: +44 (0)20 7211 1888
• Emma Lusby
  Natural England Press Team
  Tel: +44 (0)300 060 4231
  Mob: +44 (0)7900 608 073

Contact details for each region's lead partner can be found on the Dark Sky Discovery website (link opens in a new window).

About Dark Sky Discovery

The Dark Sky Discovery project is based on the successful Dark Sky Scotland programme which, since 2007, has been enabling thousands of people to enjoy informed, first-hand experiences of astronomy in the company of friends, family and others from their local communities.  Dark Sky Scotland has involved over 100 community events in urban and rural Scotland and the training of over 800 people to run activities.

The members of the Dark Sky Discovery National Steering Group are:

• Association for Science and Discovery Centres
• British Astronomical Association
• Campaign for Dark Skies
• Federation of Astronomical Societies
• Institute of Physics
• Royal Astronomical Society
• Royal Observatory Edinburgh Visitor Centre/Science and Technology Facilities Council (lead partner)
• Society for Popular Astronomy
• Steve Owens (freelance)

The lead regional Dark Sky Discovery partners are:

• North East: Pete Edwards, Durham University
• Yorkshire & Humberside: Helen Barraclough, Space Connections
• North West: Alan Brown, STFC Daresbury Laboratory
• East: Hugh Jones, University of Hertfordshire
• South West: Emma Dennis, Exmoor National Park
• West Midlands: Tony Fox, Cannon Hill Park
• South East: Jo Lewis, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
• London and East Midlands regions - there is an opportunity for a lead partner to join the DSD England project
• Wales: Allan Trow, Dark Sky Wales
• Scotland: Dan Hillier, STFC Royal Observatory Edinburgh site

Dark Sky Discovery is complementary to other dark sky-based initiatives in the UK including:

• The UK Campaign for Dark Skies (link opens in a new window)(CfDS) - a section of the British Astronomical Association. The CfDS aims "to preserve and restore the beauty of the night sky by campaigning against excessive, inefficient and irresponsible lighting".
• Dark Sky Parks and other similar designations are awarded to local areas by the International Dark Sky Association (link opens in a new window).

About Access to Nature

Access to Nature has awarded a grant of £176.8k to the Dark Sky Discovery initiative.

Access to Nature is run by Natural England and is funded by the Big Lottery Fund's Changing Spaces programme launched in November 2005 to help communities enjoy and improve their local environments.

Natural England manages this £28.75 million Lottery-funded programme on behalf of a consortium of twelve national environmental organisations comprising BTCV, British Waterways, Environment Agency, Forestry Commission, Greenspace, Groundwork UK, Land Restoration Trust, The National Trust, Natural England, RSPB, the Wildlife Trusts and the Woodland Trust.

Through this programme, it is Natural England's ambition to create opportunities for people from all backgrounds to have greater access to our natural environment and bring a lasting change to their awareness and understanding as well as improved links to the natural world, which many of us can take for granted.

Access to Nature closed to applications in May 2010.  Further information about the programme is available on the Natural England website.

The Big Lottery Fund is the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004.

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