By Steve Hubrecht
The Kootenay StarDome Foundation held one event last weekend and is holding another this coming weekend to help raise awareness about dark sky reserves and the effort to create one here in the Columbia Valley.
Both events — A Night Without Light, held Friday, Oct. 6 at the Radium Centre in Radium Hot Springs, and Art for the Dark at Pynelogs Cultural Centre in Invermere on Friday, Oct. 13 — offer a similar program, with telescope viewing, activities, light painting, discussion, and night sky art and photography. ‘Light painting’ involves using long exposure photography, then moving light sources in front of the lens to ‘paint’ images.
“I’ll also be giving a talk about the potential for a dark sky reserve in our area,” said organizer and Edgewater resident Tim MacIntosh.
MacIntosh began his effort to create an official dark sky reserve here in the Columbia Valley about a year ago, meeting with local governments, First Nations and Parks Canada. Those organizations have voiced support, but few have yet taken concrete steps to create such a reserve.
But MacIntosh is undeterred and continues to promote the idea, including through outreach events such as the ones in Radium and at Pynelogs.
Dark sky reserves are designated protected areas which are noted for particular starry skies, and which make specific efforts to cut back or eliminate light pollution and otherwise protect those celestial views. The idea has exploded in popularity in recent years.
In 2010 there were just 10 certified dark sky locations across the globe. By 2019 there were 100. By 2022, there were nearly 200.
MacIntosh’s idea is to create one in the Columbia Valley, stretching roughly from Spillimacheen to Canal Flats and encompassing Kootenay National Park.
The Oct. 6 event drew a crowd of about 50 people to the Radium Hot Springs Centre, a number MacIntosh was pleased with.
“We did a little talk, showed a little art and had a good view of Saturn and its rings,” MacIntosh told the Pioneer. “There was a lot of interest, especially from kids and families.”
There was a minor hitch when the outdoor rink lights at the park next to the centre popped on — a definite damper for a dark sky event with nighttime sky viewing, but with a bit of help from Radium Mayor Mike Gray, the lights were flicked back off.
“It was a bit ironic to have these bright lights at a dark sky evening,” said MacIntosh with a chuckle. “But overall the event went quite well . . . we’re hoping to see Saturn again (at the second event at Pynelogs on Friday, Oct. 13).”
The Oct. 13 event will also include music by Catherine Tumason, Ursula MacIntosh and Anika Rievaj.
MacIntosh expressed thanks to the Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) and Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK), which help fund the event through the Resident Directed (ReDi) grants program.