News Update
The website has been quite quiet for a while since at the moment we don’t have any dedicated funding for running events in Scotland. We are however running training where requested – to make enquiries about Dark Sky training please follow the link on the homepage or click to find out more . We are also running events across the country where requested, but unfortunately have no funds to support these from our end.
In the meantime, the success of the Dark Sky Scotland project has led to the creation of a UK-wide version, UK Dark Sky Discovery, which operates over the nine regions of England along with Wales, Ireland and the existing Dark Sky Scotland. Each of these 12 areas has their own partnership, with the overall network being overseen from Edinburgh. In England, we are very grateful to have funding from Natural England for the work going on there, including expanding the network of Dark Sky Discovery Sites across the UK.
Dark Sky Discovery Sites started in Scotland, the first two being in Glen Nevis and in Dalkeith, and subsequent additions to the network continue to reflect both the rural and urban areas of the UK. The Sites are based on the idea that wherever you live, there is somewhere nearby that is just slightly better than the surrounding area for getting a good view of the night sky. This might be your back garden, it might be somewhere shielded from direct street lighting, or perhaps a local park – anywhere with a good open view of the sky (so not completely overshadowed by tall buildings or large trees) and at least a little darker than the surroundings. Of course, the further away from towns and cities you can get, the better your view will be, but with a little hunting around, even from the middle of the major UK cities you can see stars, planets and satellites on a clear night.
To find the nearest Dark Sky Discovery Site to you so far, or to find out how to nominate a local space as a Site, have a look at our map on the UK Dark Sky Discovery website .
Within the next few months, we plan to merge the Dark Sky Scotland and Dark Sky Discovery websites, after which point, navigating to the Dark Sky Scotland homepage will re-direct you to the UK homepage so any saved links or bookmarks will still work.