10/24/2025
Beautify Cambria welcomes the 9th annual dark sky event,
“The Future of Night”
Local non-profit leading the effort to certify Cambria as an International Dark Skies Community.
Cambria, October 10, 2025 –Beautify Cambria Association’s Dark Sky Initiative will host The Future of Night event on Saturday, November 1, 2025 at Santa Rosa Catholic Church Parish Hall, 1174 Main Street, Cambria from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
The goal of the event is to inform the community and others as to the importance of protecting the night skies in Cambria and the Central Coast from ever-increasing light pollution and its detrimental impact on both humans and wildlife.
Keynote speaker will be Dr. Sandy Seale, Director of Development for Las Cumbres Observatory in Goleta, which owns 25 telescopes around the world they remotely access to study systems that change over time, such as black holes, exoplanets, pulsars and supernova explosions. She will discuss the deep space discoveries expected from the world’s largest digital camera, which after 20 years of development, is finally operational at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile. The camera is expected to collect a quintillion bytes (that’s 18 zeros!) of information over the next 10 years and also expand our understanding of dark matter and dark energy.
Also speaking will be Jim Bean from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), where he is the Engineering Management System (JEMS) Product Lead. Bean designed the wheels and suspension for the Mars rovers (the stuff that made the rovers rove). Event attendees will learn about the fascinating but hostile environment of Mars and the inner workings of JPL.
Both the Central Coast and Cal Poly astronomical societies’ members will share their high-powered telescopes. Cambria in November is known for crisp nights and clear views of the night sky. Catherine Ryan Hyde’s astrophotos will be shown on our big 135” movies screen. The Pleiades, also known as Seven Sisters, is an open star cluster in the constellation Ta**us.
Attendees will be updated on changes to the SLO County lighting regulations and the newest in lighting innovations. Dark Sky light bulbs will be on sale and retrofit options will be on display. See this photo and many more.
A silent auction will feature a variety of celestial-themed gift items and restaurant gift certificates. Food and drinks will be available. Admission is a $15 donation, children 12 and under are free. Pre-registration is available on the website, https://beautifycambria.org/donate/ For further information contact: [email protected] Or call 805-927-1934.
