Dark skies worth protecting

THE Ballarat Municipal Observatory and Museum is currently taking part in International Dark-Sky Week, drawing awareness to light pollution and loss of darkness in the night sky.

Observatory manager and member of the International Dark-Sky Association Victoria, Judith Bailey, said both people and animals are negatively affected by unnecessary light at night-time.

“We’re designed for moonlight at the brightest, and that’s how our bodies have evolved,” she said.

“All humans and wildlife produce melatonin and you can only produce that when it’s dark. It protects us against cancer.

“Here in Victoria, we have the mountain pygmy possum and bogong moth which have been in critical numbers over the last three years because of damage to their environment including light pollution.”

Ms Bailey said there are little things each person can do to reduce light-spill and pollution into the night sky, like only turning external lights on when needed, using warmer coloured lights, making sure they’re no brighter than necessary, and directing the light only where it is required.

“We could reduce light pollution tremendously and our electricity bills,” she said.

The week concludes this Saturday, but throughout the school holidays, people have been attending dark sky activities run by the Observatory, like discovering nocturnal wildlife at Woowookarung Regional Park and Lake Wendouree, and star gazing.

“Visitors from the UK last week were very impressed with how many stars they could see.

“We still have a reasonably good sky at night in Ballarat compared to other places around the world, and Melbourne,” she said.

“We have some of the best objects to view. It’s all worth protecting… and it’s great to see that our next generation of young people are engaged with the environment.”