The Commission for Dark Skies (CfDS) (formerly the Campaign for Dark Skies; the name was changed on March 29, 2015) is the United Kingdom's largest anti- light-pollution

campaign group The Socialist Campaign Group, officially the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs and also known as the Campaign Group, is a left-wing, democratic socialist grouping of the Labour Party's Members of Parliament in the House of Commons of the ...

forming part of the international dark-sky movement. It is run by the British Astronomical Association (BAA) and affiliated with the

International Dark-Sky Association The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) is a United States-based non-profit organization incorporated in 1988 by founders David Crawford, a professional astronomer, and Tim Hunter, a physician/amateur astronomer. The mission of the IDA is " ...

(IDA), and composed of a network o
local officers
(and other members) who try to improve lighting in their areas and advise local people. The campaign was founded in 1989 by amateur astronomers as a sub-section of the BAA specialising in combatting

skyglow Skyglow (or sky glow) is the diffuse luminance of the night sky, apart from discrete light sources such as the Moon and visible individual stars. It is a commonly noticed aspect of light pollution. While usually referring to luminance arising f ...

. It is now open to non-members of the BAA, includes lighting engineers and environmentalists, and campaigns on the wider effects of light pollution.

Legislation

CfDS's work with the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee on legislating against light pollution has resulted in the government including provisions in their Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill.

Dark sky park, island and reserve

Members of the CfDS have been involved in the following

designations: * Galloway Forest Park –

Dark Sky Park A dark-sky preserve (DSP) is an area, usually surrounding a park or observatory, that restricts artificial light pollution. The purpose of the dark-sky movement is generally to promote astronomy. However, astronomy is certainly not the only obje ...

(2009) * Sark – IDA's first international dark-sky island (Silver tier) (2011) * Exmoor – Dark Sky Reserve (2011) * Elan Valley Estate (mid-Wales) Dark Sky Park (2015) * Tomintoul and Glenlivet-Cairngorms Dark Sky Park (2018)

Publications

In 2009, the CfDS published its handbook ''Blinded by the Light?''.

Conferences

* ''CfDS 2006'': Dark-Skies Symposium, Portsmouth, UK, September 15–16, 2006. * ''Exterior lighting, statutory nuisance and light pollution'', De Montfort University, April, 2006. * ''Planning, Exterior Lighting and the Environment'', De Montfort University, 20 April 2012.

Notes

References

* Campaign for Dark Skies, ''Blinded by the Light - A Handbook on light pollution'', Campaign for Dark Skies, 2009 * Mizon, Bob, ''Light Pollution - Responses and Remedies'', Springer, 2002. () * Mizon, Bob, ''Light Pollution - Responses and Remedies'', 2nd Edition, Springer, 2012. () * Mizon, Bob, "20 years of fighting for the stars", ''Astronomy Now'', September 2009. pp28–31 * Mizon, Bob, 'Finding a Million-Star Hotel' Springer, 2018 () * Philip's, in association with the BAA Campaign for Dark Skies, ''Dark Skies Map'', Philip's, 2004. () * Tabb, Michael, "Where are the UK's darkest skies", ''Astronomy Now'', November 2004. pp75–6 (Article on the production of the Philip's ''Dark Skies Map''.) * Various authors, "Focus - Light Pollution", ''Astronomy Now'', April 2001. pp49–59

External links

*
The CfDS's online image library

CfDS - Facebook

CfDS - Twitter

Light Pollution and Astronomy - House of Commons Report, 2003.
(pdf) *Conference Proceedings
''CfDS 2006''
(pdf) : ''Exterior lighting, statutory nuisance and light pollution'', DeMontfort University, April, 2006 :
Light Pollution: Causes and effects
(pdf) :
Exterior Lighting as a Statutory Nuisance
(pdf) :
Is Lighting Needed to reduce Crime?
(pdf) :
Effective use of lighting as a crime deterrent
(pdf) {{Portal bar, United Kingdom, Society, Astronomy, Stars, Education, Science + Organizations established in 1989 Environmental organisations based in the United Kingdom Astronomy in the United Kingdom Amateur astronomy organizations