Hello JustSpace readers, and happy April! For this edition, in honor of Earth Day on April 22, we’re delighted to present this piece by Diana Umpierre, who argues that “Earth Day is Also an Earth Night”. Diana Umpierre served six years on the International Dark-Sky Association board of directors, one as president and two as vice president. For many years, she worked as geoscientist, geographer, planner, and grassroots organizer. She's now a certified Earth-Space Science school teacher. In 2015, she coined the phrase “No Child Should be Left Without Stars” in an article by Richard Louv.

Earth Day is Also an Earth Night

by Diana Umpierre

Each year, millions celebrate Earth Day to raise awareness on a myriad of issues affecting our precious planet. While all these issues important, our planet’s nocturnal side often gets way less attention on Earth Day than it deserves. Yet, can you imagine an Earth day without a night, a day when Earth no longer spins on its wobbly axis, a day without the magical rising and setting of light from our Sunny Star and the light from billions of other Suns? The fact is that an Earth day has always had an Earth night. And, an Earth night is just as important to fight for on Earth Day.

The Scottish conservationist John Muir once described a day of adventure in nature as "a most glorious 24 hours of life". He was an avid stargazer who knew an Earth day does not end at sunset. Some of his writings reflected his love for the "sky wonders of the glorious night" and for the "restless electric auroral fairies" we call the Aurora Borealis. In the late 1800s, he did not have the artificial sky glow most of us are now exposed to every Earth day.

Today, the loss of a pristine starry night sky and a natural nocturnal environment is more than evident. But now, the light pollution is not just because of street, parking, stadium, and car lights. It was in May 2019, while serving in DarkSky International's board of directors, that I first became aware of a new threat to the night sky. This time it was from a batch of Starlink satellites, launched from Florida where I reside: a new source of worry for astronomers around the world. A few months later (January 2020), crossing the Everglades at night, I witnessed the bright long train of fake stars. That night I did not sleep, but not for the reasons that kept John Muir awake at night.

A lot has happened since then, including more frequent rocket launches, more satellites (and space debris) and more of those pesky bright LED lights polluting the night. Public awareness and international collaboration are increasing and that should give reasons for hope in the New Space Race and in our fight to protect and restore the Earth nights that still inspire this pursuit.

The history of the first Space Race that started in the 1950s, during the long "Cold War" that followed WWII, was very messy and NOT an example to follow for protecting the night sky. But there was one historical effort in that era that perhaps can inspire us once again. The International Geophysical Year (IGY) was the collaboration of over 60 nations to better understand mysteries of our own planet and its interaction with our closest star. This undertaking intentionally took place during the maximum of an 11-year sunspot solar cycle (1957-58), the 19th since we began counting them in 1755. And, to this day, that cycle is still the record holder for the most sunspots. I like to think that our own star was super excited that humanity had finally found a reason to unite and it wanted to show off how important it is to life on Earth.

The International Geophysical Year (IGY) led to remarkable scientific cooperation and provided the incentive for the first Earth-orbiting satellites, besides our faithful Moon. That effort, along with subsequent Earth observation satellites, gave us a much deeper (and higher) understanding and appreciation of Earth's interconnected environment. The April 1956 issue of the National Geographic magazine described IGY's satellite program as a "scientific research project designed for the enhancement of knowledge about our own planet... under the auspices of a noble international effort to be carried out in a spirit of peaceful cooperation... [with] the gratifying fact that it belongs to the earth as a whole".

The IGY satellites gave us new insights on solar radiation, cosmic rays, Van Allen belts, heat emitted back by Earth's lands and oceans, our weather, our climate, and on the "restless electric auroral fairies" that kept John Muir awake all night. UNESCO summarized it as an effort that would lead to new queries. "The infinite curiosity of the scientist will press for a reply to these questions, and out of this demand a new enterprise, even more ambitious... to knowledge beyond anything we can now conceive, and may provide humanity with the key to a complete understanding of the planet we live on."

This past month, on March 6, space debris rained over the evening sky where I live in Pembroke Pines, Florida. A mom and daughter in the Girl Scout's council I volunteer with witnessed the trail of fiery rocket debris from a failed Starship rocket launched from Texas. Oh, how I wish little Marie had been right, but sadly, it was not the spirit of a StarClan cat, nor a shooting star, but just another source of light pollution in our night sky.

This Earth Day, during another sunspot solar maximum, let's celebrate the 6th solar cycle anniversary since the launch of the first satellites, but with a commitment to genuine ethical, diverse, inclusive and peaceful cooperation. And, on this and all future Earth Days, let us work to also celebrate and advocate for the nightly Earth environment that gave us the starlight of other suns that inspired us to explore our universe.

A theme of the first Earth Day, in 1970, was "Give Earth a Chance". Maybe this year's theme should be "Give Earth Night a Chance". Let us envision a future in space that includes a just relationship with the very part of Earth's nature that sparked our interest to explore it: the night sky.

To Do

Consider participating in this year’s International Dark Sky Week, organized by DarkSky International on April 21-28. Activities including assessing your own home for light pollution, hosting a Dark Sky Week event like a local star party, or participating in the citizen-science light pollution tracking project Globe at Night.

We also invite you to apply to join the JustSpace Alliance at bit.ly/JustSpaceApply! Members have access to our virtual community spaces, and in the future, we’ll be able to offer in-person gatherings, more podcast and video content, writing, and more. Supporting JustSpace will help us reach our mission goals by allowing us to compensate people for their time and labor for our future projects, as well as help us cover basic costs like maintaining our website, etc. You can find more information at bit.ly/JustSpaceMemberFAQ.