Rewatch the 2021 Dark Skies Festival

Rewatch the 2021 Dark Skies Festival

Did you miss out on the 2021 South Downs Dark Skies Festival? Not to worry, you can rewatch all of the fantastic videos below.

• Festival Launch – Friday 12 February 2021

  Get ready to #EmbraceTheDarkness. ‘Dark Sky Dan’ introduces this year’s festival and how you can get involved.

• Real-time tour of the night sky – Friday 12 February 2021

  Dr. John Mason of the South Downs Planetarium shows us what we can expect to see in the night sky over the next few days.

• Embracing the Darkness: Our journey to becoming an International Dark Sky Reserve – Saturday 13 February 2021

  How did the South Downs – a national park home to 117,000 people – become an International Dark Sky Reserve?

  Ranger ‘Dark Skies’ Dan Oakley recounts how a childhood fascination with the cosmos led to galvanising people across the National Park and beyond to ensure this generation, and the next, can enjoy beautiful, uninterupted dark night skies.

• Nocturnal Wildlife and Stargazing at Home – Monday 15 February 2021

  Join South Downs National Park Rangers, Charles and Kate, setting up for an evening of stargazing in their back garden and looking at simple things you can do to help nocturnal wildlife.

• Live Q+A with Jo Marchant, author of ‘The Human Cosmos’ – Tuesday 16 February

  From early cave paintings to the efforts of scientists to discover if early life-forms existed on Mars this fascinating book is a must for anyone interested in the science and culture around our ever changing relationship with the stars.

  In this live interview Jo talks to Anooshka about what inspired her to write this book and why she thinks it is important for us to reconnect with night skies now.

• Tour of the night sky and focus on Mars – Wednesday 17 February 2021

  Ahead of the NASA rover ‘Perseverance’ Mars landing on Thursday 18 February, Dr John Mason of South Downs Planetarium takes us on another tour of the night sky before homing in on the planet Mars, to explore why it is of such interest to NASA scientists and what they are hoping ‘Perseverance’ will discover.

• Mars landing Q+A with Dr. John Mason – Friday 19 February 2021

  Following the successful landing of the Mars Perseverance Rover, South Downs ranger ‘Dark Sky Dan’ Oakley and Dr. John Mason from the South Downs Planetarium took your questions on what we can expect from Perseverance and future Mars Missions.

• South Downs Nocturnal Wildlife – Sunday 21 February 2021

  Can you tell a difference between a twit-twoo and a hoo-hoo?

  We’ve put together this helpful little video guide on identifying & spotting some of the elusive nocturnal creatures scattered around the National Park.

• Live Q+A with Tiffany Francis, author of ‘Dark Skies: A Journey into the Wild Night’ – Tuesday 23 February 2021

  Author Tiffany Francis-Baker chats to South Downs National Park’s cultural Heritage Lead, Anooshka Rawden about exploring the nocturnal landscapes of the South Downs and other places.

  Walking at night brings a whole host of new experiences and emotions. Anooshka chats with Tiffany about their shared love of exploring the National Park at night.

• Winter Stars and Our Magnificent Moon – Wednesday 24 March 2021

  In the third of our virtual Planetarium shows, Dr John Mason from South Downs Planetarium reviews the latest news from the Perseverance Rover on Mars, finds some interesting objects in the winter night sky and takes a close-up look at Earth’s nearest neighbour, our magnificent Moon.

  With clear skies all this week, now is the time to put on your coats, head into the garden and fully #EmbraceTheDarkness

• Nocturnal Wildlife Walk with ranger Jan Knowlson – Friday 26 March 2021

  South Downs ranger Jan Knowlson & Kim Dawson from the Sussex Bat Group venture out at sunset for a nocturnal wildlife walk.

  Will we hear the owls? Maybe see a couple of bats?

  Watch to find out.

• Let’s Take Care of Our Dark Skies – Saturday 27 March 2021 

  As we near the end of our 2021 Dark Skies Festival, we want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has followed along by watching the films, sharing our posts and asking lots of great questions.

  But, you may be asking, “is there something I can do to help protect our dark night skies?”

  The simple answer is a resounding “YES!”

  Here’s ‘Dark Skies Dan’ to tell you more.

   

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