It's International Dark Sky Week from April 22 to April 30.

Okay, so it's a little longer than a week but the purpose of it is to draw attention to light pollution and Dr. Phil Langill, with the University of Calgary, says light pollution continues to spread.

"It's about helping people to gain awareness of the effect of the overuse of light in general.  The growth of the use of lights is outpacing the growth of population by a factor of two."

Dr. Langill, who is also the director of the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory, says light pollution doesn't just affect stargazers.

He says it's harmful on wildlife, especially nocturnal animals and while he realizes we need light for safety reasons and to help deter crime he also knows there are much better choices now available.

"There's so many smart choices these days about types of light and colour of light and intensity of light... and the fixtures themselves have interesting designs and motion detectors now are way better than they've ever been."

The observatory, just west of Okotoks, has a special 'space night' planned for Saturday, April 23 from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. however the event is sold out.