Dark Sky Advisory Committee

The mission of the Central Florida Astronomical Society Dark Sky Advisory Committee is to educate government, professional and civic organizations, home owner associations, and the general public regarding the use of outdoor lighting that will increase safety, be more economical, and restore and preserve the natural beauty of Central Florida's night sky. The Dark Sky Advisory Committee will also advise local governments regarding the adoption of outdoor lighting ordinances and act as informal intermediaries in outdoor lighting disputes between government, commercial or residential groups, at no cost.

Click here to see the Casselberry award

At a time when our Nation is striving to reduce our dependence upon foreign energy resources, the City of Casselberry has stepped up to join with an ever growing number of communities throughout our Country to put an end to the glare and excessive waste of poor lighting, thereby reducing some of the 1.5 billion dollars of electrical production wasted every year in the United States to do little more than light up the sky.

In addition to saving electrical costs and resources, the Casselberry Exterior Lighting Ordinance will also reduce the increasing safety hazards of high glare lighting to pedestrians and drivers alike, improve visibility, reduce the harmful effects on the nocturnal environment of Central Florida, and allow its citizens to reclaim the natural beauty of the starry night sky.

The oldest European city in the Western Hemisphere, St. Augustine, Florida, was built where it was due to the geometric relationship between its latitude and the North Star. Central Florida is also home to the site where Americans have succeeded in achieving humanity's ancient goal of reaching for the stars and planets that have lured us since prehistory. But today 95% of the stars that should be visible to every citizen have been lost in the unneeded and wasteful glow of poor lighting.

We are very proud to honor the City of Casselberry for taking steps to ensure that our children visiting these historic sites never lose the ability to step out into their own backyard to see the stellar source of these stellar achievements.

Therefore, it is with great pleasure that the Dark Sky Advisory Committee of the Central Florida Astronomical Society, Inc awards the City of Casselberry, Florida the designation of the being the First Stellar City in Central Florida.

Chairman, Dark Sky Advisory Committee
Central Florida Astronomical Society
(407) 657-6112
demeterd@scc-fl.edu

CFAS and DSAC are proud members of the International Dark Sky Association, and DSAC is also a member of the Southern Night-Sky Restoration Project of the Southern Nights Astronomical League of Florida. Manufacturers of full-cutoff lighting and a vast amount of other information may be found through links on the International Dark Sky Association's and the Southern Night-Sky Restoration Project's web sites.

For statewide light pollution information in Florida and a growing list of Florida lighting ordinances, links and photos, visit the Southern Night-Sky Restoration Project!

For more information about light pollution and what you can do about it, visit the International Dark Sky Association!