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Explore our Skies
Tubac's Dark Sky
We live in a beautiful spiral galaxy, the Milky Way. Sadly, it is not visible to 80% of the population in the US. In Tubac we are fortunate we can still experience the awe of a starry sky and the splendor of the Milky Way.
We love a dark sky!
In September 2024, the Tubac Dark Sky Committee obtained the designation of International Dark Sky Community (IDSC), among 9 in Arizona and 64 in the whole world.
The committee became the Tubac Dark Sky Association (TDSA) in 2024.
TDSA is now a committee of the SCVCC thanks to strong support from the SCVCC.
Come Enjoy Tubac's Dark Sky
TDSA Steering Committee
TDSA Steering Committee
TDSA Steering Committee
Currently, six members steer the TDSA as a committee of the Santa Cruz Valley Citizens Council. The SCVCC board and its membership provided strong support for our IDSC application. Now we must protect our precious dark sky for its own sake and to maintain the designation as an IDSC. Among the forms of pollution, water, air, land, noise and light, light pollution is the easiest to control.
The stakeholders
TDSA Steering Committee
TDSA Steering Committee
- Every single living thing in our fragile Sonoran environment.
- Astronomers conducting research at the F. L. Whipple Observatory and the many amateur astronomers who regularly visit our area
- Astro tourists, who add to economic development and expand the tourist season from fall-winter to year-round.
Whipple Observatory
TDSA Steering Committee
Whipple Observatory
F. L. Whipple Observatory astronomers conduct front-line research on exoplanets, galaxies, quasars and supernovae.
Outdoor Lighting
Outdoor Lighting
Whipple Observatory
The Board of Supervisors of Santa Cruz County adopted the updated Outdoor Lighting Code
(OLC) on October 15, 2024. It is a significant improvement to the 2008 code. To reach this
milestone, members of TDSA worked closely with then Community Development
Director Frank Dillon and his staff and with then District 3 Supervisor Bruce Bracker.
We are ready to assist the community and furnish suggestions for good outdoor lighting solutions
that comply with the updated OLC.
Partners
Outdoor Lighting
Our Future
We are collaborating with the Tubac Presidio and Tumacácori Parks to hold dark-sky related events.
DSA is an Associate of the Southern Arizona Chapter of Dark Sky
International. We share our dark sky goals and work together to achieve them.
Visit their website for more information.
Our Future
Outdoor Lighting
Our Future
The potential threat of uncontrolled light pollution led residents to coalesce in efforts to protect Tubac’s pristine night sky. Members of the Tubac Dark Sky Committee made sky quality measurements, inventoried outdoor public lighting, and took steps to become an International Dark Sky Community. Residents, local government, and businesses worked to enact an improved outdoor lighting code. This code and ongoing efforts of the Tubac Dark Sky Committee will minimize light pollution, protect dark skies, reduce energy consumption, and ensure that pioneering astronomical work at the Whipple Observatory continues.
Our Thanks
We thank the 27 local organizations and then District 3 Supervisor Bruce Bracker. Their letters of endorsement were crucial to the success of our application for the IDSC designation.