South Downs Dark Skies Festival 10 Feb 2024

South Downs Dark Skies Festival

No, it"s not one of Vincent van Gogh"s creations or a galaxy far, far away—it"s our galaxy, the Milky Way, over Dunstanburgh Castle in Northumberland. With skyglow, or light pollution, infiltrating even rural areas, faraway stars, meteor showers and other objects in the night sky are disappearing. Thankfully, the International Dark-Sky Association is promoting dark skies to do something about this loss. There are 119 Dark Sky Parks in the world, including the Northumberland National Park, as well as 21 Dark Sky Reserves, seven of which are in the UK. With its "Bronze Level" darkness, one of the reserves—South Downs National Park—is welcoming people to their Dark Skies Festival starting today. From stargazing sessions to after-dark walks, this star-studded event ending on February 18 has a lot in store.

© Owen Humphreys/PA Images/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

Masterpiece of acoustic engineering
10 Feb 2025Art installation of umbrellas, Borough Market, London, England
10 Feb 2026Es Vedrà and Es Vedranell, Ibiza, Spain

More Desktop Wallpapers:

9 Aug 2025International Day of the Worlds Indigenous Peoples
13 May 2025Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia, Chile
22 Oct 2026Autumn in Naejangsan National Park, South Korea
1 Oct 2023Lake Bled, Slovenia
Love is in the snow
Season of light in the City of Light
7 Sept 2026Old Town Hall, Bamberg, Germany
An explosive history
23 Jun 2025Elbe river in Dresden, Saxony, Germany
31 Aug 2025Scotts Bluff National Monument, Gering, Nebraska, United States
A future built on the past
22 Mar 2024World Water Day
9 Mar 2024Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness, New Mexico, USA
3 Jul 2025Rainbow River, Rainbow Springs State Park, Florida, United States
9 Jul 2024Talampaya National Park, Argentina
Small but mighty
23 Oct 2026Wolf Awareness Week
25 Oct 2025Martimoaapa Mire Reserve, Finland
18 Jun 2024Snæfellsnes, Iceland
6 Mar 2025Bighorn sheep in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, United States
30 Sept 2026Male bearded reedling, Norfolk, England
23 Nov 2025Fibonacci Day
19 Jun 2024Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, USA
A window to the Pacific
24 Mar 2026Cherry blossoms at East Lake Cherry Blossom Park, Wuhan, China
13 Jun 2026Trooping the Colour
25 Jun 2024Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, USA
4 Sep 2025Grizzly bears, Katmai National Park and Preserve, United States
1 Mar 2024Saint Davids Day
5 Jan 2024International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, Harbin, China