The South Texas Astronomical Society is teaming up with local partners to fight light pollution in Brownsville and save our night sky.  Please help us designate Brownsville a Dark Sky Community by adding your name to our petition to save the night sky. 

Dark sky protocols are outdoor lighting ordinances that enforce “quality of light over quantity”. Their implementation, along with public education and awareness of the benefits of the mindful use and placement of lighting, are how cities achieve the status of an International Dark Sky Community. An International Dark Sky Community is an organized community (such as a city like Brownsville) that demonstrates dedication to the preservation of the night sky through the implementation of a dark sky protocol.

Planned dark sky communities use the natural landscape to block out light from other houses and combat light pollution with sparse strategic placement of street lights to achieve optimal road navigation and safe pedestrian sidewalks.
   

Benefits of reducing light pollution include: 

• Support of healthy hormone production, cell function, & brain activity
• Decrease in mental conditions caused by or related to sleep disorders
• Maintenance of normal feeding, mating, & migratory behavior for animals
• Preserving the natural night sky provides more stargazing opportunities
• This results in higher quality of scientific research in the field of astronomy

Implementing a dark sky ordinance is not going to happen overnight. It would take organized, continuous, and united  effort to get Brownsville designated as an International Dark Sky Community. If we start now, and begin to incrementally redesign and apply the ordinance, we will see longterm benefits!