New Dark Sky sites announced
A total of 26 sites across the UK, including the National Botanic Garden of Wales and six National Trust properties, have become the latest to be recognised for the quality of their night skies by the UK Dark Sky Discovery partnership.
The new sites have been chosen as the latest Dark Sky Discovery Sites due to their lack of light pollution, creating the perfect environment for astronomy and stargazing. The National Botanic Garden of Wales’ Director, Dr Rosie Plummer, stated, “Clear skies are an excellent measure of a good environment and this award of Dark Sky status emphasises our credentials as a hub for science.”
Northumberland has also gained Gold Tier Dark Sky status for the combined areas of the Northumberland National Park as well as the majority of Kielder Water & Forest Park. The new zone will be known as the Northumberland International Dark Sky Park. It is the first of its kind in England and one of the largest in the world at almost 1,500 square kilometres.
