Dark-sky status awarded to northumberland park area…

Dark-sky status awarded to Northumberland Park area

Northumberland National Park and Kielder Water and Forest Park have been granted dark-sky status by The International Dark Skies Association and has become the largest area of protected sky in Europe.

Steve Owens, dark skies consultant and chair of the IDA’s development committee, said: “The quality of Northumberland’s night sky, and the huge efforts made by local communities to preserve them, make Northumberland Dark Sky Park a gold tier site, and one of the best places to stargaze in Europe.”

TV impersonator Jon Culshaw, who is an amateur astronomer and filmed an episode of the BBC’s The Sky at Night in the park said: “The site of Kielder Observatory is a truly magnificent dark-sky area.

“It was incredible to witness light levels fall to such a depth that you would swear the stars were casting shadows. It’s a sad thought that such genuinely dark sky sites are becoming increasingly rarer.”

Read more here: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tyne-25260186

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