Oh, so dark at this park!

The skies are alive over Cherry Springs State Park, thanks to the lack of light pollution, among other factors.

Look at a satellite image of the United States at night you'll see two dark areas in the mid-Atlantic region. At the heart of one of them is Cherry Springs State Park.

In the early 1990s, a handful of amateur astronomers discovered the exceptional viewing conditions of Cherry Springs' skies. Soon, word began to spread.

Star-gazers who had previously traveled many miles to view planets and nebulae without atmospheric disturbance discovered they had some of the best dark skies right in their own back yard.

Cherry Springs is now the state's only official "Dark Sky Preserve" and the Pa. Bureau of State Parks is investing heavily to develop it as a major attraction.

The park's astronomy field includes three telescope domes, including a "sky shed" with a removable roof. All are available to rent on certain weekends.

There's plenty more to come at Cherry Springs, including a visitors' center.

Just because the weather is cold doesn't mean the stargazers are packing away their telescopes. Skywatching has become a year-'round attraction at the park, where officials now consider dark skies to be as valuable a resource as air, water, and wildlife.

Due to urban development and "light pollution," many people don't have the opportunity to see a dark sky. The skies above Cherry Springs can sometimes display upwards of 10,000 stars.

Most of the country is affected by light pollution - lighting that escapes upwards into the atmosphere where it reflects off moisture and blocks a view of the night sky.

Cherry Springs has no sky glow. The park has large fields and is situated on top of a hill, 2,100 feet above sea l e v e l , where fog u s u a l l y d o e s n ' t form. Light from local towns is t r a p p e d b e h i n d s t e e p hillsides.

On darko f - t h e - m o o n weekends, it is common to find 40 to 50 observers on the field with telescopes, observing and photographing both near and deep space objects.

An astronomers' club from State College, the Central Pennsylvania Observers, holds "star parties" at Cherry Springs to introduce the public to stargazing. Cherry Springs was also the pilot location for the Stars-n-Parks program, sponsored by the National Public Observatory (NPO) to foster public awareness of light pollution and the preservation of the night skies.

Protecting this resource is a priority for Park Operations Manager Chip Harrison. He points out residents can help cut down on light pollution by installing "skycaps" on dusk-to-dawn lights. Tri- County Rural Electric Cooperative has volunteered to install the skycaps at no cost.

Harrison's support of the dark skies project was a welcome development to astronomy buff Thom Bemus, who promoted the idea after discovering the optimum conditions at Cherry Springs.

Sky watching is having a big impact at Cherry Springs. The park got about 1,900 tourist days (repeat visitors) in 2000, 4,000 in 2002, and 6,000 in 2005. A growing proportion of park visitors are being attracted by the organized "star parties."

(Portions of this story

were authored by Tim

Morey and Maxine

Harrison, and originally

appeared in State Parks

magazine)