Goodbye to long-serving Paul – and hello to darker skies!
This issue, we bid a fond farewell to our reviews editor Paul Money, who is retiring after 17 years on the team. Paul’s enthusiasm and passion for the night sky meant that he arranged the sourcing and shipping of close to 1,000 review items, personally tested almost 250 pieces of kit, wrote more than 40 features and appeared in 150 podcast episodes. It’s a remarkable achievement and I’m sure you’ll join me in thanking him. Good luck in all your future adventures, Paul!
Speaking of adventures, many of us have one particular item on our bucket list of sights we want to see: the aurora. These dazzling light displays have recently been witnessed from Cornwall in the UK to California in the US, places never normally treated to such shimmering green spectacles. On page 32, Ezzy Pearson explores the reasons behind these increasingly widespread displays and looks ahead to what promises to be an aurora season like no other.
The residents of Presteigne and Norton in mid-Wales are now much better able to see any aurorae above them, thanks to the work they’ve done to protect their dark skies. Indeed, the two neighbouring communities recently became the first in the UK outside Scotland to be awarded International Dark Sky Community status. On page 36, lighting designer Kerem Asfuroglu explains how local residents there, as well as in two other communities, came together to get big wins in the fight against light pollution to protect their dark skies.
Enjoy the issue!
Chris Bramley, Editor
PS Our next issue goes on sale on Thursday 21 March.
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