The Lauwersmeer National Park was officially designated as a Dark Sky Park by the International Dark Sky Association in October 2016. Here, efforts are being made to preserve darkness, whilst allowing visitors to experience and observe the night sky. The Lauwersmeer is a lake in the northern part of the Netherlands, on the border between the provinces of Groningen and Friesland. It is one of the key bird areas in Western Europe, and one of the only spots in the Netherlands where it still gets relatively dark, considering the country has one of the highest levels of light pollution in the world. As such, this location was chosen as the Dutch darker sky pilot site, with its bright counterpart being the Zernike Campus in Groningen.
The Milky Way as seen in the Dark Sky Park. Credit: Marketing Groningen
The KID light pollution measuring station is located near the Dark Sky Lauwersmeer telescope, near the park's activity centre. This pilot site includes a SQM, SQC and EOS RP camera.
A view of the general area of the measuring station site.
The KID detector boxes at the site.
An all sky picture from the Dark Sky Park site.