Dark Skies Project

Art in the Park after dark

admin Art in the Park after dark

Put yourself in the picture this season in Tomintoul & Glenlivet! Our internationally recognised Dark Sky Park offers breathtaking stargazing and aurora viewing spots such as at the ‘Still ‘ by Angus Ritchie just outside Tomintoul. We also run a rich event program from August to April to help you discover the wonders of the night sky. With some of the darkest and most enchanting skies in Europe, the stars shine brighter, and the vastness of the universe feels closer.

For a full list of events and to book visit our events page at https://www.cairngormsdarkskypark.org/events/

‘Still’ sculpture by Angus Ritchie photographed with the aurora. Copyright Cairngorms Astronomy Group, 2024.

14″ Telescope

admin Dark Skies Project

We are now the proud guardians of a 14″ newtonian reflecting telescope. It has three times the light gathering power of our 8″ Schmidt Cassegrian and double the light collecting ability of our 10″ Dobsonian. It will be great for viewing all those distant nebulae and galaxies during the coming months.

14 inch Dobsonian telescpoe
14 inch Dobsonian telescope

Tomnavoulin gets New Lights

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Full cut off street lighting in Tomnavoulin
Full cut off street lighting in Tomnavoulin

Moray Council have just finished installing replacement street lighting in Tomnavoulin with “full cut off” LED units. A great improvement because as you can see they only illuminate downwards where we need the light. Also good for our wildife, reducing our carbon footprint and the cost of running the lighting. It all helps to keep our council taxes down in future.

Dark Sky Discovery Sites

admin Dark Skies Project

Interpretation boards have been installed at our three Dark Sky Discovery sites: The Field of Hope, Tomintoul; The Carrachs, Braes of Glenlivet; and at Blairfindy Moor, Glenlivet. They have great information to get you started on your star gazing adventures. Visit all three to get the whole story…

The Field of Hope - Tomintoul's Dark Sky Discovery Site
The Field of Hope – Tomintoul’s Dark Sky Discovery Site

Here’s where to find them:

Dark Sky Discovery Map
Dark Sky Discovery Site Map

Planners back Dark Skies

admin Dark Skies Project

We were delighted to hear this week that planners will be backing our bid to become an International Dark Sky Park. Both the Cairngorms National Park Authority and the Moray Council have written to confirm that they will be using our Lighting Management Plan as a material consideration in determining planning applications within our proposed Dark Sky Park.

Planners back Dark Sky Park
Planners back Dark Sky Park

Lighting Amnesty

admin Dark Skies Project, Events

Our lighting amnesty got off to an excellent start on Saturday with an event in Tomintoul. We celebrated International Dark Skies week with an offer to replace local residents outdoor lights with dark sky friendly ones.

If anyone in the proposed Dark Sky Park area has an outdoor light that allows excessive light to spill into the surrounding countryside and night sky then a free replacement unit can be obtained from the Landscape Partnership office in Tomintoul.

Download our Lighting Amnesty Leaflet to find out more.

Dark Sky Friendly Lighting

Darker Skies over Tomintoul

admin Dark Skies Project

Tomintoul Street Lighting Comparision 2015-2017

There is an amazing difference in the sky quality over Tomintoul now that almost all of the street lighting has been replaced.

Last night an hour with binoculars revealed a huge array of deep sky delights from the Field of Hope at the junction of the A939 / B9008. To the naked eye the sky was absolutely studded with stars and the Milky Way showed great detail. There was even a hint of the Aurora in the north to complete the experience.

A big thank you to the Moray Council for making such a huge difference.