Indiana Dunes stargazing: Brian Urban of Chicago sets up his telescope in darkness using a red headlamp to not ruin his night vision during Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore's monthly stargazing event on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2017 near Kemil Beach in Beverly Shores. (Michael Gard / Post-Tribune)
Indiana Dunes stargazing: Brian Urban of Chicago sets up his telescope in darkness using a red headlamp to not ruin his night vision during Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore's monthly stargazing event on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2017 near Kemil Beach in Beverly Shores. (Michael Gard / Post-Tribune)
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As the sun vanishes and the twilight fades to blackness, Larry Silvestri's new world comes to life.

The stars stretched thinly overhead twinkle with little interruption from artificial light. Here, Silvestri feels an intimate connection with nature — just him and the cosmos.

"It kinds of puts everything in perspective," he said. "When you look up into the night sky you're looking into the beginning of time. After spending a lifetime learning the constellation and astronomy I have learned to appreciate the beauty of a natural sky."

Silvestri, 69, has been intrigued with the mystery of space since he first saw Jupiter through a pair of binoculars when he was 11 years old. He built his first telescope at 14. And now Silvestri, of Michigan City, is taking the lead trying to get Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore a designation as an International Dark Sky Park.

The International Dark-Sky Association has essentially one core requirement before a park is awarded the designation: Allow people to see the natural sky.

Other requirements include minimal artificial light, public education programs and the ability to see the Milky Way galaxy with the naked eye. Achieving this designation highlights the efforts of the park has made towards protecting dark skies. Thus far, only 55 parks across the world have been labeled a dark sky park, according to the association.

But as communities continue to develop and light pollution expands, places like the Dunes that give people an opportunity to see the starry sky are becoming harder to find.

"The Dunes is a place accessible for anybody to see the stars," Silvestri said. "It's fewer and fewer places for people to do that. It's very rare to find a place that is actually far enough away from streetlights and city lights and is open after sunset and itself is not light polluted. So you come to appreciate places like the Dunes National Lakeshore."

On a clear autumn night, from the Kemil Beach parking lot at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, the Milky Way emerged overhead, becoming more visible to the naked eye. The constellations and star clusters meshed together like a collage creating a faint band of light crossing the sky.

By now, Silvestri already had his 7-foot long, 200-pound, homemade telescope in place. He pointed his telescope toward Saturn, which had crept over the towering trees near the southwest end of the park.

On a recent Saturday night, members of the Calumet Astronomical Society, Chicago Astronomical Society and Michiana Astronomical Society gathered at Kemil Beach parking lot to learn about and have a telescopic viewing of celestial sights. People lined up at Sivestri and other amateur astronomers' telescopes waiting to get a close look at Saturn and the stars.

"It's important for us to offer these services to the public," Kelly Caddell, a park ranger at the Indiana Dunes, said. "The more stuff we can do out in the park, the better off we'll be."

The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore extends along 15 miles of the shoreline of Lake Michigan, along with 15,000 acres of beach, woods, marshes and prairie in Northwest Indiana. The national park draws more than 2 million visitors each year, park officials said.

"That's one reason that the designation for this dark sky award, from the International Dark-Sky Association, for our Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is so important," said Audrey Fischer, former board member for the International Dark-Sky Association and the current leader of the Chicago chapter. "It has to be recognized that this is a very important asset. Not only as a destination spot for people to go to recoup and enjoy the beauty, but it's important that we have that obligation to the ecosystem to do what we can."

Many people share Fischer's enthusiasm of the Dunes, including U.S. Rep Pete Visclosky, D-Merrillville, and House Minority Leader Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, who both wrote letters advocating for the Dunes to receive a dark sky park designation.

"Designating the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore as a dark sky park will elevate the interest in this park to those who are interested in or are currently taking advantage of the public astronomy programs and night hikes offered throughout the year, while at the same time it will work to protect the park from the threat of light pollution," Visclosky wrote.

"I have lived in Michigan City my entire life and have enjoyed the opportunities that the Indiana Dunes' resources provides to our community," Pelath wrote. "Our residents have long treasured our location in the wild confines of the Dunes. In recent years, we have embraced dark-skies as an important part of the local environment drawing residents and tourist from all over the world."

Moving forward, Silvestri will continue working with the Dunes in order to secure the dark sky designation. Thre is no current timetable for filing the application, organizers said. According to the association's website, applications are accepted every other month.

"I think we'll get it," he said. "I'm persistent."
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