After the highly successful January Public Star Night on the Importance of Dark Skies, we have decided to follow this up with the screening of the movie “The City Dark” from filmmaker Ian Cheney.
THE CITY DARK chronicles the disappearance of darkness. The film follows filmmaker (and amateur astronomer) Ian Cheney, who moves to New York City from Maine and discovers an urban sky almost completely devoid of stars. He poses a deceptively simple question, “What do we lose, when we lose the night?”
Exploring the threat of killer asteroids in Hawaii, tracking disoriented hatching turtles along the Florida coast, and rescuing birds on Chicago streets injured by collisions with buildings, Cheney unravels the myriad implications of a globe glittering with lights–including increased breast cancer rates from exposure to light at night, and a generation of kids without a glimpse of the universe above. In six chapters weaving together cutting-edge science with personal, meditative sequences reflecting on the human relationship to the sky, “The City Dark” shines new light on the meaning of the dark.
The film features stunning astrophotography and a cast of eclectic scientists, philosophers, historians, and lighting designers including Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, astronaut Don Pettit, neurologist Dr. George Brainard, Harvard Medical School scientist Dr. Steven Lockley, cosmologist Chris Impey, and lighting designer Hervé Descottes.
Weather permitting, after the presentation, visitors will be invited to look through the large telescope at various celestial objects. The Public Star Nights are usually held the third Friday of each month, except July, when it is closed for annual maintenance.
If you have any questions, please call the observatory information line at 970-613-7793 or check the LTO web site at www.starkids.org [1]