On Thursday 22nd February, the Castle Grounds in Hertford hosted a Dark Skies event. With support from many local experts, Hertford Town Council delivered a memorable event that celebrated the beauty and vastness of space. The event also generated awareness of light pollution and the negative impact it can have on both wildlife and the night sky. The inspiration for the event came from Hertford resident Simon Thorp and attempted to emulate similar successful events as publicised by The International Dark-Sky Association.
The event was kindly supported by LAPD Lighting Design, STOAN Lighting, Hertfordshire University – Bayfordbury Observatory and Hertford Astronomy Group and recognised by Dark Sky UK.
Although the Dark Skies evening started in wet and windy conditions, it ended with a beautiful clear sky filled with stars. A real reward for those that braved the earlier rain.
Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust provided information about local wildlife and the negative impact of light pollution. An Eco Hub was launched that gave visitors the opportunity to witness an air-source heat pump demonstration.
Bayfordbury Observatory provided a mobile, inflatable Planetarium experience exhibiting an immersive video of the constellations and the night sky and the Hertford Astronomy Group brought their equipment and telescopes giving the public access to highly specialist equipment and stunning images of the night sky.
Inside Hertford Castle there were talks by experts including An Introduction to Astronomy by Mily Riley, Introduction to Amphibians and their Nocturnal Behaviour by David Willis (including live specimens), Light Pollution by Simon Thorp and Dark Matter Halos by Shree Hari Mittal.
The Hertford Astronomy Group showed an incredible projection with images that they had taken of the night sky and there were fun activities for children including Alice Hemming providing a creative shadow puppet display as well as readings from her space themed book Bibble and the Bubbles.
At 18:45 the lights were turned off in the area and thankfully the clouds cleared just in time for a live stargazing talk from the ‘Star Stage.’ This was followed by Alan from Hertford Astronomy Group who shared his knowledge and telescope for the public to learn about the stars.
Hertford Town Council are grateful for those who attended our first year of Dark Skies and made it a success, we cannot wait for the event to develop in the future.
The Mayor of Hertford, Councillor Vicky Smith said: “Dark Skies was an incredibly well-received new event. Despite some poor weather early on, there was plenty to keep star gazers entertained. We are very grateful to all the experts who gave up their time to provide talks and other activities. This event was the brainchild of a local resident, and we are looking forward to taking it forward and making it a regular event.”
