Nature: The wonder of Norfolk’s dark skies

The rare sight of the Northern Lights from North Norfolk is a result of our dark skies. (c) copyright citizenside.com

Mike Toms on why our dark skies give us pause for thought as well as wonder.

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You’ll often hear people talking about North Norfolk and its huge skies. There is a sense of space here that is difficult to achieve elsewhere in southern Britain, something that may well stem from the combination of the flat landscape and the lack of development. To be out on the coast at dawn or dusk can deliver skies rich in colour and pattern; on occasion the sea takes up these colours to expand the canvas of colour even further. It is at such times that North Norfolk seems at its most magical.

North Norfolk also has some fantastic night-time skies, thanks largely to the low levels of light pollution encountered in the area. While you can still detect the glow of Cromer and Norwich from the less-populated parts of the coast further west, the skies are sufficiently dark here to attract those interested in the stars, planets and other objects that occupy the vast expanse that stretches away from the Earth and back through time. Being able to see these objects reaffirms our place, reminding us how small and insignificant we really are.

Even without access to the technology we can still appreciate the moon, planets and stars for what they are. The sheer scale of the night-time canvas provides the stimulus for reflection, something that – like access to green space and wildlife – can help our wellbeing by delivering an opportunity to step away from the rush of daily life and to ponder more deeply. To understand that the light that we are seeing from a distant star is a moment captured many thousands of years ago, provides a sense of time at a scale so hugely different from our own daily or even annual cycles.

Looking up and out at the night sky becomes a means of looking inwards and understanding more about ourselves. As we move towards the turning of the year, so the night sky might provide an opportunity for each of us to think more deeply about what the new year holds in store and what we might do to sustain this planet and its richness of life.