The dark sky over an urban park in central Mexico attracts stargazers who worry it might not last

As night descended in an ecological park in central Mexico, tiny stars appeared in the sky one by one, aligning into constellations. Juan Carlos Hernández adjusted a telescope looking for the soon-to-be-visible Tsuchinshan-Atlas comet. Hernández and others were enjoying the status of Joya-La Barreta Ecological Park as the first urban night sky space in Latin America by DarkSky International, which works to educate the public about the harm of indiscriminate lighting. The park’s dark sky status is under threat, however, from increasing light pollution and urbanization. Hernández and other astronomy activists are fighting to conserve the park’s nocturnal conditions and reduce light pollution.



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