The anticipation at ObservÉtoiles, an outdoor observatory in the Eastern Townships, had been building for hours. Or was it days? I’d traveled there, along with my husband and 10-year-old son, to watch April’s solar eclipse at the astronomy-themed spot, which found itself — through a stroke of cosmic luck — squarely within the path of totality. It was quiet as the surrounding forest went dusky. But when the sun disappeared, a gasp rippled through the crowd, followed by an impromptu round of applause. Want to see the next total solar eclipse in the Eastern Townships? As in northern Vermont, it will be a while — mark your calendar for 2106. But in recent years, the region has earned a reputation for protecting our world’s more quotidian darkness, the kind that happens, like clockwork, every night of the year. The border-hugging region of small towns and forests is home to two areas recognized for inky skies: Au Diable Vert, the Sutton outdoor center where ObservÉtoiles is located, and Mont-Mégantic, a first-of-its-kind International Dark Sky Reserve. Both spots draw avid night owls. “People know that Mégantic is a place to see the stars — it’s one of the greatest nature shows,” said Sébastien Giguère, scientific coordinator and head of education at ASTROLab, the stargazing-focused visitor center at Mont-Mégantic National Park. While the park itself has been around since 1994, in 2007 it joined dozens of surrounding towns to form the 2,030-square-mile Mont-Mégantic International Dark Sky Reserve. It’s a designation recognizing not just starry skies but also community-wide commitment to keeping constellations brightly visible for generations to come. (Today there are 22 such reserves around the world, in places from Namibia to New Zealand; North America has three.) In the years leading up to the designation, by the nonprofit organization DarkSky International, the region around Mont-Mégantic implemented a broad-reaching plan to reduce light pollution, from replacing light fixtures to limiting the hours and brightness of outdoor illumination. The outcome was a 35 percent reduction in artificial light at night. Stand atop Mont-Mégantic on a clear night these days and you might spot, with no need for a telescope, the whirling smudge of the Andromeda Galaxy, 2.5 million light-years away. “It’s part of the identity now of the region,” Giguère said, describing access to starry nights as key to savoring the natural world’s beauty. “I can’t imagine growing up without seeing a…