Dark sky events & updates

8/29/2021

Beaver Island Dark Sky astro-photography Event
What are They all looking at?
Photos below by Taffy Raphael, Becca Foli and Cynthia Johnson are all from an Astrophotography Workshop with Alex Mullins. Alex travelled from Delaware, Ohio to teach members of the Dark Sky Committee and Taffy Raphael how to take pictures in Space.
Tony Miller, Astronomer contributed greatly to the project, aiding with the purchase of telescope parts, finding Alex Mullins and helping the committee coordinate efforts to create Dark Sky Events this year.
Cynthia Johnson, Point of Contact for the committee presented Michigan State Legislation recently passed declaring July 2021 as Michigan’s Official Dark Sky Month. Johnson also said the Dark Sky Sanctuary Application is completed, thanks to some expert editing assistance from Anita Mauro, and the committee expects an announcement in October. Read more about that application and status by clicking below.

Rain and cloudy weather kept the group from taking the scopes to Donegal Bay for viewing and photographing stars, planets and galaxies. The evening did continue with some prose from Johnson and merry music from Astro-photographers, astronomers, contra-dance bands and others. See story and photos inside. Becca Foli, photographer, Bill Markey, dark sky committee, Judy Boyle, photographer, Steve Radionoff, photographer & committee member and Tony Miller, astronomer in photos below. (LtoR&down
The Beaver Island Association took the Beaver Island Dark Sky Project under it’s wing in 2020.
As members of the Dark Sky Project formed a committee to investigate an opportunity to seek official designation as a Dark Sky Place from the International Dark Sky Association, (IDA); committee members found a first, big step towards designation would be to find a 501c, non profit organization to assist.
Members of BIA serving on the Dark Sky Project quickly agreed it would be a good move forward for both organizations. BIA president, Kevin Boyle and others agreed to help apply for the Dark Sky Designation. After looking into the several options, the committee applied to become a certified IDA Dark Sky Sanctuary.
Cynthia Hector Johnson was selected as official Point of Contact for the IDA process, with William Markey assisting, in particular with the application process and documenting the necessary Sky quality Meter readings.(SQM) A Sanctuary must meet several stringent requirements. One is the measurement of Night Sky Quality, or a measurement of how dark a place is by exact scores. The highest is 22, Beaver Island registers averages between 21 and 21.6 on any given night, according to conditions. Besides meeting these levels for sanctuary status, intentions must be stated to maintain a SQM measurement program to keep sanctuary status.
Beaver Island Wildlife Research Area, managed by the DNR Wildlife Division, Gaylord, MI. met the second, stringent requirement for a sanctuary designation. There are currently only 14 Dark Sky Sanctuaries in the world. Beaver Island could be Number 15 in 2021!
According to the website, at Gabriela Mistral (Chile) | International Dark-Sky Association (darksky.org); these are the guidelines for sanctuary status: “An IDA Dark Sky Sanctuary is public or private land that has an exceptional or distinguished quality of starry nights and a nocturnal environment that is protected for its scientific, natural, or educational value, its cultural heritage and/or public enjoyment.
A sanctuary differs from a Dark Sky Park or Reserve in that it is typically situated in a very remote location with few (if any) nearby threats to the quality of its dark night skies and it does not otherwise meet the requirements for designation as a park or reserve. The typical geographic isolation of Dark Sky Sanctuaries significantly limits opportunities for public outreach, so a sanctuary designation is specifically designed to increase awareness of these fragile sites and promote their long-term conservation.”
Members of the BIA and Dark Sky Project committee waded through the information and designations bi-weekly and weekly through the Covid-19 pandemic via zoom. Brian Vaeth and Maria Dal Pra of Beaver Island Retreat, Pamela Grassmick, Paul Cole-Chamber Director, Dick Mulvihill worked with ideas and solutions to complete an 86-page document to prove to the IDA that Beaver Island met all the qualifications to become a Dark Sky Sanctuary.
More of a thesis or master plan, the application was not a simple, fill-in-the-blanks piece of paperwork. Johnson said, the 78-page document is now in the hands of the International Dark Sky Association and will be reviewed in September.