CURRENT EVENTS
(Updated June 2010)
 

Acadia Night Sky Festival—September 9-13, 2010

Back by popular demand! Plans are underway for the 2nd Annual Acadia Night Sky Festival on September 9-13, 2010. More than 2,000 people attended the inaugural festival in September 2009, enjoying a wide range of events to promote the protection and enjoyment of Downeast/Acadia’s stellar night sky.

This year we are joined by the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce, which has made the festival one of their official events. We will continue in our role as the festival’s Non-profit Fiscal Sponsor. The Planning Committee is hard at work on indoor and outdoor events, including ranger-led talks, a cruise, stargazing, children’s activities, a photographic exhibition of works by Tyler Nordgren, and much more.

Natural Light Subtraction: The Holy Grail of Light Pollution Science—Spring 2010

The National Park Service (NPS) has introduced the second generation of light pollution measurement technology that can subtract all naturally occurring forms of light, isolating artificial or man-made light from the natural background. We assembled our own dedicated system just as the NPS began testing this new technology. Over the last six months we have participated in three phases of extensive testing and evaluation.

The new system is a major advance, making it possible to demonstrate highly effective lighting practices and illustrating why traditional practices are of limited value. Our participation in its development has led us to appreciate the immense gap between traditional dark sky protection efforts and what has just become possible.

Peter Homer's Space Glove Wins Again!—November 2009

Peter Homer—engineer, innovator, and inventer—has won additional honors for his prize-winning space glove. Peter's glove, which won the top prize in NASA's Space Glove Challenge in 2007, won the second phase of the same competition on November 19, 2009. See Bill Trotter's article, "MDI man wins NASA glove competition—again," in the November 24 Bangor Daily News.

Mouse over the "Space Glove" tab at the top of this page to learn much more about Peter's adventures in innovation since he began work on his space glove design at his dining room table. Peter's company, Flagsuit LLC, has partnered with the Island Astronomy Institute to share the inspiring Hands in Space experience with Maine schoolchildren.

Lighting Ordinance Vote—November 2008

Bar Harbor's landslide approval of a new lighting ordinance has received a gratifying amount of media attention, continuing to raise awareness of light pollution issues.

The front page of the November 28 Boston Globe reports, "Preserving the sight the ancients took for granted goes beyond saving a pretty view. The promise of a rare, unimpeded stargazing experience has the potential to draw more visitors to Maine, which depends heavily on tourism." The title of David Filipov's article says it all: "Residents of Maine town want to keep stars in their eyes."

In the November 23 Portland Press Herald Bill Nemitz writes, "Bar Harbor is by no means the brightest place in the world. And earlier this month, the tourist mecca on the tip of Mount Desert Island decided to keep it that way...'The whole idea is to keep your light to yourself,' said Peter Lord, who directs the Island Astronomy Institute...[I]n Bar Harbor, at least, folks take their starlit nights seriously." See the complete article, "Town pulls plug on light pollution."

In "Our Vanishing Night," the cover story of the November 2008 issue of National Geographic, journalist Verlyn Klinkenborg examines light pollution: "Darkness is as essential to our biological welfare, to our internal clockwork, as light itself...For the past century or so, we've been performing an open-ended experiment on ourselves, extending the day, shortening the night, and short-circuiting the human body's sensitive response to light." The follow-up to the article lists Acadia National Park as one of four national destinations for star chasers! Please see the press release for more information.

"Hands in Space” Education Debuts in June 2008

The Island Astronomy Institute and Flagsuit LLC have joined forces to present a new kind of educational experience featuring Peter Homer's space glove design, which won NASA's Astronaut Glove Challenge in 2007. Based on demonstrations given in local classrooms and at NASA exhibitions in Los Angeles and at the Kennedy Space Center, the team has developed the “Hands in Space” Astronaut Glove Experience, a portable vacuum box that lets anyone reach into the emptiness of space.

Intended for science museums and traveling outreach programs, the “Hands in Space” exhibit will incorporate four astronaut gloves manufactured by Flagsuit, the company founded by Peter Homer. For the first time, an astronaut glove will be made just for children.

Peter was featured at the Smithsonian Institute's 42nd Annual Folklife Festival, which took place June 25-July 6, 2008 on the National Mall. A former member of the Island Astronomy Institute's Board of Advisors, he is recognized for developing "an innovative new space suit glove design that is strong, easy on the hands, and gives the operator a high degree of dexterity."

Peter discusses his glove design, and the processes of innovation and invention, in his June 27 video from the Folklife Festival. Visitors to Peter's display at NASA's Derived Technologies tent were able to see how it feels to wear a pressurized space suit glove, and to learn more about the development of the next generation of space suits.

See the complete "Hands in Space" press release here.

Tyler Nordgren's Reflections on Acadia

Astronomer Tyler Nordgren is on a mission to connect our national parks to the heavens above. Tyler’s one-year sabbatical from Redlands University is devoted to linking landscapes to the latest astronomical discoveries. The geologic stories of our home planet, so spectacularly displayed in our national parks, are the tools Tyler uses to explain the forces at work through the solar system.

Tyler integrates his cultural appreciation for astronomy through Native American stories about features in a pristine natural sky, which is increasingly visible only from our national parks. These visible features illustrate the primal forces that are responsible the earth at our feet. Tyler’s gift for connecting the stars above to the earth below is evident in the beautiful photography and artwork he is compiling for a companion book.

During Tyler’s October 2007 visit to Acadia, he noted the national significance of Acadia National Park’s endangered nightscapes and the broad public support for work on MDI. His spectacular mosaics of the Milky Way over famous vignettes of Acadia’s Park Loop Drive capture vistas rarely seen in the eastern United States. These are the very nightscapes we are surveying with the help of the National Park Service’s Dark Sky Team as part of our National Scenic Byway Project for Acadia. 

To learn more about Tyler's work and his reflections on Acadia National Park, visit his Planetary Society Blog.