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Kendall County officials are working towards designating their county as one of more than 200 Dark Sky International’s certified Dark Places. The International Dark Sky Places program certifies communities, parks, and protected areas around the world that preserve and protect dark sites through responsible lighting policies and public education.
Astronomer Angela Speck, professor of physics and astronomy at UTSA said that light pollution is becoming worse across the country, even though Texas has plenty of dark skies.
“But once you get into the cities, San Antonio or Austin or Dallas, wherever, you basically have very poor view of the sky and the light pollution is terrible," she told TPR.
“You want to have as little going up into the sky as possible. It's a little bit like, you know, when you have your phone and you have it on a low light, and you go out into a bright sun, and you can't see the screen anymore. The more light we put up into the atmosphere, the less we can see the sky.”
Speck said cutting down on light pollution can be a fairly simple matter
“And so what you need is something that cuts down on having light going up into the sky," Speck said.
"So something as simple as downward pointing lights with a good shield on top is great.”
Texas has 23 dark sky areas listed in the International Dark Sky Community listing, including Big Bend National Park being the largest certified dark place in the world.
It could take around two years for Kendall County’s application to be accepted
