Protecting the darkness
The starry skies have become an indispensable map in the life of Liu Chih-an. But it has been another road altogether on this map that has unexpectedly taken him from observing the stars to combating light pollution.
In 2013, the Nantou County Government placed an LED commemorative marker on Yuanfeng Peak. This led to the banding together of a group of astronomy aficionados to save Mt. Hehuan’s stargazing environment from the imminent threat of light pollution.
Liu points to the example of the small town of Lake Tekapo in New Zealand as a successful example of the benefits of preventing light pollution. This little town, with only 300-400 residents, has become part of the world’s first “dark-sky reserve.” After gaining this certification, it began to receive visits from stargazers from all over the world, driving local “astrotourism.”
Inspired by the ideas behind Lake Tekapo, in the name of promoting tourism Liu Chih-an and his colleagues began to educate local homestays in the Qingjing area of Nantou’s Ren’ai Township about preventing light pollution. They also called on volunteers from the stargazer community to offer training in guiding visitors through the night sky, hoping that knowledge related to astrotourism would develop autonomously in the local area.
Liu Chih-an takes us to visit two homestays: Florence Resort Villa and Starry House. The two homestays use different lighting equipment, but each has devised clever ideas to reduce light pollution, such as painting the outsides of their garden lamps black or reducing the wattage of their lights, in order to leave the night stage to the stars.
Public opinion often has it that a place is safe only if it is well lit, but Liu counters that excessive lighting can cause glare and blind spots. He and his co-campaigners by no means want to turn out all the lamps: their main focus is on “appropriate lighting.”
When the Nantou County Government saw the determination of this group of stargazers, it also committed itself to observing norms set by relevant outdoor lighting conventions. In July of 2018 Nantou County, in cooperation with the Cingjing Tourism Association and astronomy groups, applied to the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) for certification for a proposed Hehuan Mountain Dark-Sky Park.
In late 2018 the IDA came to Taiwan for a fact-finding visit. There is hope that Taiwan will be the third country in Asia to have a dark-sky park, following on from the Yeongyang Firefly Eco Park in South Korea and the Iriomote-Ishigaki National Park in Japan.
On April 1, 2019, Liu Chih-an announced on Facebook that he would retire from his job. This was no April Fools’ Day prank. He is retiring at the early age of 53 to devote himself entirely to preserving the beauty of the night sky for future generations. He is worried about the durability of current successes, for if there is no one to feed the fire in the future, “the flame will go out, and it will be very difficult to light it again,” he says.
Looking up at the vast sky filled with stars, so many light years distant from us, their beautiful forms became the focus of enchanting myths at the origins of civilization, and humans’ limitless curiosity about them has initiated our modern journey into the cosmos. But when we took a stargazing tour of our own, we discovered that the distance between us and the stars is not as far as you might imagine.
Lin Hung-chin operates his telescope with practiced skill. This device, which he has been toting into the mountains for over 30 years, has kept him company on countless cold nights.
Mt. Hehuan boasts fabulous conditions for stargazing, but it is not completely free of light pollution from cities, as witnessed by the yellow glow in the bottom left of the photo.
Mt. Hehuan’s Yuanfeng Peak is a mecca for stargazers, including many foreign visitors who spend the whole night there viewing the heavens.
Painting the upper side of lights black can reduce the flow of light into the sky.
Liu Chih-an and the owner of the Starry House homestay discuss how to alter lighting to reduce light pollution.
Gazing up at the night sky, our fascination with the stars is part of human nature. (photo by Chuang Kung-ju)