The Surprising Reason Michiganders Are Shutting Their Lights Off For An Hour Tonight

If you notice your neighborhood starting to go dark tonight (August 16th) around 10pm, it's not because the power is out...

Today is the "Lights Out Challenge", which will leave people from Kalamazoo all the way to the Mighty Mac turning off their lights in the name of light pollution.

Why are they doing it? Tonight is the Lights Out Challenge from Headlands International Dark Sky Park to raise awareness for the impact of light pollution on our environment.

While this challenge has been issued out mainly to Northern Michigan and residents near the Headlands International Dark Sky Park so that on the first day of the new moon, in order to optimize how much darkness is available for people to view the night sky.

In fact, they're taking it to the point of turning off the lights on the Mackinac Bridge for the hour in order to help keep the sky as dark as possible.

Don't panic though, cars aren't going to go flying off because they can't see where they are going. Safety lighting will stay on, but Mighty Mac's cable and tower lights will power down all night while the city will go dark for one hour.

While this event is mainly intended for northern Michiganders, there's nothing stopping everyone else from participating especially with clear skies expected in West Michigan tonight.

If you want more details on how you can participate and what they're into, you can check out their facebook page.