Death Valley’s ‘Dark Sky Festival’ hosts record-breaking crowd to view night skies

DEATH VALLEY, CALIF. — Though it’s not considered one of the most well-known events in the area, a record-breaking crowd of more than 5,000 visitors converged upon Death Valley National Park for its “Dark-Sky Festival” this past weekend. The festival is a yearly celebration of space and planetary science in one of the darkest night-time locations in the United States.

The Dark Sky Festival program included auditorium talks, field trips, astrophotography workshops, night sky tours and other presentations from Feb. 10-12. Many stayed for all three days to enjoy the multiple programs.

Prestigious rating

The International Dark-Sky Association has designated Death Valley National Park a “Gold Tier Dark-Sky Park” which is the highest rating of darkness. The park, according to the association’s social media site, has little to no light pollution which is a side effect of modern development. Its sources include building exterior and interior lighting, advertising, commercial properties, offices, factories, streetlights, and illuminated sporting venues.

“The fact is that much outdoor lighting used at night is inefficient, overly bright, poorly targeted, improperly shielded, and, in many cases, completely unnecessary,” the association noted. “This light, and the electricity used to create it, is being wasted by spilling it into the sky, rather than focusing it onto the actual objects and areas that people want illuminated.”

Visitors

Park Superintendent Mike Reynolds said the event saw a total attendance of 5,568, while at least 1,500 people peered through telescopes provided by the Las Vegas Astronomical Society.

He noted that clear skies, the telescopes and engaging speakers combined for a “stellar experience” this year.

“It was exciting to see so many people travel to Death Valley to enjoy the night sky,” Reynolds said. “This was a special opportunity for the public to interact directly with top scientists studying the planets and stars. Death Valley National Park is an ideal place for this, because the park has supported a lot of planetary science research. This year we had the largest attendance in the thirteen-year history of the event.”

The event’s partners this year included the Ames Research Center, the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Death Valley’s Natural History Association, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Las Vegas’ Astronomical Society, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence).

Dates for the 2024 Dark Sky Festival have not yet been set.

Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes