Join the Dark Side

Have you ever tried to purposefully go to something that you don't enjoy because your crush does it? That was me in February of 2011 as a college freshman. Her name was April and I was infatuated wholly.

I forget who, but someone came up with the idea that we should do some type of class trip. I wasn't about it, I hated the idea of class trips, I was in college that was a dumb high school thing. One problem. April was going.

Therefore, I was going. I should say, before this goes on, that I was not good at talking to women (I'm still really not), so my plan was just to be around her in the hopes that a meet-cute moment would happen and she'd be like "Wow, I didn't notice you before but now, I'm in love!" We aren't all the brightest.

Anyway the trip was to the Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park. It was a dark-sky preserve, meant for stargazing. I wasn't much into astronomy, but I could fake it for a girl I liked.

What is a dark sky-preserve? I remember thinking that. Mr. Edgar our guide ended up explaining it to us. In Florida there aren't a lot of places that are free of artificial light. "In order to see astronomical phenomena it's imperative that we maintain a dark sky" Mr Edgar's words, not mine.

I ended up learning quite a bit that I didn't intend to. Reason being April got sick the day of, and didn't end up being able to go.

I had already paid for the trip, so I thought I may as well get my moneys worth. I was bad with women, not with money entirely.

Looking back on everything now, I'm glad I wasn't distracted by something as temporary as a crush.

I learned a few things about a dark night sky. And about myself that night.

We need the night sky

The 'we' there is a multipurpose word. I'm talking first about the mammals and wildlife that depends on a dark night sky to hide from predators. I'm talking about the birds whose flight paths can get disrupted when they see large masses of artificial light like a city.

I'm also talking about us as humans. There's a reason that most of us like a dark room to fall asleep in - there are quite a few studies, but I'll link one from the national library of medicine detailing some of the catastrophic side effects of long term artificial night light exposure

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2627884/

We're wasting our energy

This has a dual meaning as well.

Of course, it stands by itself in saying that it is literally wasting energy when we power things that don't need it. It's why grocery stores have started opting for lights that don't stay on all the time. It's why my dad used to complain about leaving lights on. He was concerned about the money, but on a larger scale it's a waste of money and energy when we keep lights on that don't need to be.

I don't want to be the Dad that keeps turning your lights off, but how many streets really need that many street lights? How many parking lot lights do we really need?

It's a problem, because we want to be safe at night right? It's a problem then of a society that refuses to sleep. New York City prides itself on being the city that never sleeps. When did that become such a good thing though? Not only for the energy wasted in electric bills, but also in ourselves.

It's a problem that bleeds into a societal structure that says we need to work during the night to get ahead of our competition. It's a problem of a candle that keeps burning, regardless of how low on wax it gets, because we need to be productive at the cost of everything else.

We need to stargaze

The 'We' here is you. It's me. It's humanity as a whole. I'm not saying you have to go to a dark sky preserve (though you should) I'm saying that as a species that have built giant monuments of science, architecture and industry it's important to stargaze.

I laid down and watched as Dr. Edgar showed me the constellations. For the first time I knew what the little and big dippers were. I could finally see Orion's belt. We watched them float through the night sky as if it wasn't our world spinning.

Mr. Edgar had brought a pretty large telescope showing us one by one the rings around Saturn. Shocked would be an understatement of the emotional impact that it had. I've never been much into astronomy. I'm still not. But in that moment it's hard to put into words, but I felt like I was pushed into an ocean without hope of escape. In a good way. Like I said it's hard to put into words. Let me try once more though: There is more out there than will ever be explored, there is more in us then than what atoms can build. There is more.

We need that. Trust me, and go stargaze.

How can you help?

Stop using lights you don't need. Any little thing helps - there are dark sky options out there. I personally like tiki torches. Helps with mosquitoes too.

Write letters, and work with local government to help audit outdoor lighting in your area. I'm not saying that everything needs to shut down (although wouldn't that be kinda neat) but maybe during sea turtle season (enter your own wildlife) no one uses lights after a certain time. Here's a nice guide that the Dark-Sky Association put together.

Stargaze! Get out of the city, go with friends, go camping whatever it is, and marvel at the beauty that exists at the end of our pollution. This is the first and last step in the process. You won't appreciate what you don't know, and you can't know something if it's no longer around to look at.