Losing the Dark: free-for-download planetarium show about light pollution

[Mark C. Petersen]

Loch Ness Productions, in collaboration with the International Dark-Sky Association, is proud to announce the availability of a new free-for-download planetarium show highlighting the issues regarding light pollution. It's called Losing the Dark.

Written and narrated by Carolyn Collins Petersen, produced by Mark C. Petersen, and soundtrack music from Geodesium, Losing the Dark introduces and illustrates some of the issues regarding light pollution, and suggests three simple actions people can take to help mitigate it. The show gives planetarium professionals a tool to help educate the public about the problems of light pollution.

The 6.5-minute public service announcement is being distributed in two forms. Of course, it's a fulldome video, for digital dome theaters. We've also made the show as a high-definition flat screen video; classic planetarium theaters without fulldome capability can show this version using their traditional video projectors.

The show is currently available in English, but translations are underway that will allow the program to reach a worldwide audience — and if you can help in the process, the IDA would love to hear from you!

Major donations from Starmap and the Fred Maytag Family Foundation funded Losing the Dark. The project was launched with seed money from the International Planetarium Society and donations from IDA members.

Help bring back the dark of night to planet Earth!

Losing the Dark on the Loch Ness Productions website:

http://www.lochnessproductions.com/losingthedark

Losing the Dark on the IDA website:

http://www.darksky.org/losingthedark