Right outside of the security line and baggage claim at the small Jackson Hole Airport, travelers crawled into a pop-up planetarium — a black, inflatable dome with the night sky projected inside.
“So that is Ursa Major, our big bear,” Eons Lemasters, program coordinator at Wyoming Stargazing, told a few families stopping in before heading to their gate.
Lemasters explained that this is what you can see with minimal light pollution.
“There's plenty of constellations that completely get washed out,” Lemasters said.
But not here in Jackson, where the airport, town and county have just been certified by the nonprofit DarkSky International, the reigning authority on dark skies. They join more than 80 dark sky places in our region, the largest concentration in the country.
The pop-up planetarium was one way to celebrate and educate people on the new Wyoming designations. The airport, which has less than a dozen gates, is the first in the world to receive a certification.
According to airport staff, they have upgraded over 250 lighting fixtures by pointing them downwards, replacing bulbs with warmer colored options and making them motion-sensors. The airport is specifically dimming or turning off lights between sunset and sunrise, largely between 12 and 4 a.m., except for the ones needed for planes to land safely, like runway and air traffic tower lights.
Wyoming Stargazing Executive Director Sam Singer has been working for a decade to get the tourism-driven gateway community to reduce light pollution. He said these efforts are especially important, since this is the only commercial airport located entirely in a national park, Grand Teton.
“There's this other natural resource above our heads that we need to spend time and energy protecting just like we do with the land beneath our feet,” Singer said.
Limiting light pollution helps human health and circadian rhythms, he explained. It can also help cut down on energy costs and keep drivers safe by reducing glare. Plus, it’s important for nocturnal animals.
“Actually allowing the night sky to get dark every night is a crucial thing for most of the animals and the plant life that live here,” Singer said.
The town, county and airport have made the commitment to reduce light pollution over the next five years, but now Singer said it’s time to get more private homeowners and businesses on board, in addition to the other areas that make up the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
Back in the pop-up planetarium, Lemasters pointed out constellations, from Ursa Minor to the Lion. Originally from Ohio, they’ve been in Jackson for a couple months now and are still in awe every time they look up at night.
“It's humbling,” Lemasters said. “You feel so small yet so big, and just seeing everything up there, it's incredible beyond words, honestly.”
The announcement in Jackson comes as communities celebrate International Dark Sky Week. Wyoming’s Sinks Canyon State Park is also a designated dark sky place, and states such as Colorado and Utah are pushing for more such places.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
