County hosts International Dark Sky Celebration April 18 at Santa Ysabel Nature Center

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East County News Service

April 3, 2026 (Santa Ysabel) – Reach for the stars at San Diego County’s International Dark Sky Week Celebration on Saturday, April 18 from 2-10 p.m. at the Santa Ysabel Nature Center (22135 Highway 79). The event includes “Defending the Night Sky,” a symposium from 2-7 p.m., followed by an after-dark star party to view the celestial sights from 8-10 p.m.

The symposium includes speakers as well as at 7 p.m. a screening of the documentary “The Starry Walk” exploring California’s dark sky locations. Speakers include Carolyn Heffner, chief engineer at Palomar Observatory, photographer Kamala Venkatesh with tips on shooting the night sky, UCSD research biologist Liz Harrison on how night light impacts human health, lighting engineer Paul Erickson on new streetlights for  San Diego, and more.

For the star party, participants are encouraged to bring a tripod and remote shutter release with your camera. Venkatesh will lead a session on night sky photography.

For more information, call (619) 354-9258.

This event is sponsored by San Diego County Parks and Recreation, Julian Dark Sky Network, Borrego Springs Dark Sky Coalition, and Dark Sky San Diego County.

 


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Comments

So many stars visible...

Submitted by on

When outside the city light pollution it's amazing. I've spent many years camping in the wilderness, and a few living in such areas, and the sight of the night sky is always amazing. Searching for constellations - the Milky Way, and so forth. Or just watching the slow movement above is fascinating. The moon, well, that's another thing of beauty to behold...