April 13, 2026 – Northern Nevadans are invited to join a world-wide celebration of International Dark Sky Week at an open house in Sparks on April 16.
Millions of people will gather at thousands of events around the globe in the coming days to celebrate the celestial world we all share. Here in Northern Nevada, Friends of Nevada Wilderness will host the Save Starry Skies Plate Party on Thursday, April 16, from 4 – 7 pm at the Friends office at 1360 Greg St., Suite 111 in Sparks, NV. The whole family is welcome.
First launched in 2003 by a high school student with a passion for astronomy and stargazing, International Dark Sky Week has since grown into a global movement—building awareness and appreciation for dark nights and their vital role in supporting human health, sustaining critical wildlife habitat, advancing scientific discovery, and preserving a shared cultural heritage.
Every day, the quality of the dark sky diminishes as the built environment grows and is illuminated by artificial light. However, the good news is excessive artificial light, also known as light pollution, can be easily reduced and controlled.
“We hope to help show folks that we all can enjoy a darker, starrier sky in our urban neighborhoods if collectively we just take a few simple steps,” said Friends Executive Director Shaaron Netherton. “We are very fortunate that rural Nevada is home to so much wide-open public land that is unlit for the most part, allowing us to see more stars in the sky than most Americans. But even those rural places will be threatened if we don’t take steps to reduce the amount of artificial light at night.”
The open house will feature information about dark sky-friendly lighting and how communities can benefit from implementing responsible lighting practices.
“Some of us remember a time when we could look up and see a night sky full of stars,” Netherton added. “But those times have changed due to the rapid proliferation of artificial light. Too many people today don’t realize what they’re missing. We hope to help them learn the steps to take so neighborhoods and communities can rediscover what we’ve lost.”
Friends of Nevada Wilderness sponsored the official Save Starry Skies specialty license plate to help raise awareness of the need to reduce artificial light and to promote astro-tourism. Proceeds from the plate have been used to print outreach materials, support public events, conduct dark sky monitoring and purchase dark sky quality meters for use throughout the state. More than 5,000 of the plates have been registered in the two years since it was released to the public.
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From Dark Sky International-darksky.org
Graphic from darksky.org
