FLAGSTAFF — Flagstaff is celebrating a quarter-century as the world’s first International Dark Sky City, a title it earned in 2001 for its efforts to limit light pollution, ABC15 reported.
City lighting rules call for shielded fixtures that point light down instead of into the sky, along with lower-intensity amber and yellow lights. Combined with the city’s high elevation, the rules keep stars and planets visible even downtown.
Earlier this year, the Arizona Department of Transportation replaced more than 370 highway lights around the I-17 and I-40 interchanges, along Milton Road and on Route 66 with amber LEDs, the first use of amber LED lighting on U.S. interstates.
The Flagstaff Dark Sky Coalition recently set up telescopes backstage after a Robert Plant concert at Fort Tuthill so the musicians could view Saturn and the moon. The group also shares tips for reducing light pollution at home.
Sources: ABC15. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: Coconino National Forest / Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
