Dark sky preserves: Canada's best places to stargaze

City dwellers, you're missing out on a spectacular show each night. But there are places you can go for front-row seats to nature's glory. For a breathtaking, unobstructed view of celestial wonders, consider visiting a dark sky preserve.

"Sky glow" -- the residual man-made light that shines upwards from such sources as office towers, houses, streetlights and sports fields -- dramatically reduces the contrast between the night sky and the stars. Officially designated by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC), a Dark Sky Preserve (DSP) is an area of protected land where illumination is extremely limited or non-existent.

As its name suggests, a DSP contains little or no artificial light sources – and any artificial light sources that do exist (e.g., lamps in a parking lot) must conform to strict standards that limit their emissions of excess light. Fixtures direct light downwards, lower-wattage bulbs are used, trees and shrubbery are planted around light sources to help "capture" light at ground level and even bright vending machines are kept indoors or in well-concealed areas to reduce ambient illumination.

What's a dark sky preserve?
Robert Dick, a professor of astronomy at the University of Ottawa and member of the RASC, describes the difference between looking up at the stars from a city and doing so at a DSP as immense, with hundreds -- and sometimes thousands -- more stars visible once sky glow is removed from the equation. "The sky becomes a tapestry that has not changed for millions of years," he says.

Dick explains that the goal of any DSP -- in addition to dramatically improving the conditions under which you might see stars -- is to protect the environment within it, likening their purpose to that of a nature preserve.

"They are made accessible to the public so they may learn about and enjoy nature," he says. "The Dark Sky Preserve simply extends this experience throughout the night."

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