Providing inspiration and information to protect night skies
Frank Turina, PhD is an astrophotographer and night sky advocate based in Evergreen, Colorado.
I spent more than 10 years working for the National Park Service Night Skies Program, helping to provide park visitors with opportunities to experience the vastness and beauty of the night sky and naturally dark environments. I also helped protect wildlife and other natural and cultural resources from the effects of light pollution. My PhD is in Environmental Policy from University of Colorado, School of Public Affairs, and I serve as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Denver’s Environmental Policy and Management Program.
I started my journey in astrophotography in 2018 to better understand how light pollution affects astronomers and others interested in enjoying night skies and naturally dark places. I began taking images in Fort Collins, located on the northern edge of the light dome that covers the front range of the Rocky Mountains, from Fort Collins to Colorado Springs. The light from many of the deep space objects in the night sky has traveled for thousands or millions of years before reaching Earth. As a result, even the brightest galaxies and nebulae are extremely dim and are easily washed out by even a small amount of artificial light in the atmosphere. To compensate, astrophotographers take hours of exposures to capture detail in an object, and utilize an array of light pollution filters and photo processing techniques to bring out the beauty of the objects being photographed.
My goal for this website is to inspire interest in astronomy and appreciation of the night sky, and to provide information about threats to this magnificent resource. I want this website to provide materials and strategies to reduce light pollution and I want the images posted here to inspire action by highlighting the beauty of the cosmos.
Welcome to the Night Sky Resource Center
The goal of the Night Sky Resource Center is to provide inspiration and information to protect night skies.
Inspiration. Through my Star Trails blog, I want to explore the role of the night sky in our lives and the sense of awe, beauty, starkness, and brilliance that a star-filled sky can foster within us. I want to look into our instinctive responses to darkness, night, shadows, and the unknown. I will look at these issues from a personal, cultural, and scientific perspective. I will hopefully provide insight into the importance of the night sky and naturally dark environments and the richness and beauty they can add to our lives. I will also explore the cultural and societal implications of artificial light and its role both as a tool to push back the dark and a curse that robs us of the night’s beauty and power. The photography on this site will provide a glimpse of the incredible beauty that lies beyond the sky glow and glare of our cities and towns. All of the images used on the site are mine unless otherwise noted.
Information. The resources section of the website provides information to help you protect night skies. It will provide background on the properties of light and its effects on our health, culture, and environment. It will also provide links to other people and organizations with far more expertise than me. I want to provide examples of laws, regulations, and policies that others have implemented to save night skies and provide best practices for minimizing light pollution in your home and your community. Finally, I will share news and updates in the field of night sky protection, whether that entails technical advances, laws and policies, successful projects, best practices, or the latest scientific research.
