Light Pollution: Beacon in Chicago

pease1 writes: "The owners of Chicago's Palmolive Building decided it would be cool to recreate the famous 'Lindbergh Beacon' that was used for aviation navigation for many years. Except, to compete with the modern glarey lights of downtown Chicago, they increased the candle power to 7 billion, up from the original 2 billion candle power. During a recent test, they appeared surprised by the backlash described in this recent Chicago Tribune article. Residents of nearby high rise buildings were surprised when a really huge flashlight started to shine in their apartments!

This is an interesting example what those of us involved in the fight for quality outdoor lighting call racheting. The most common form of racheting can be seen where two or more gas/service stations have each increased lighting levels in order to compete/attract business. At least one person has started an online petition regarding the beacon.

Projects like this needlessly contribute to worldwide light pollution, as highlighted in this recent Slashdot thread."

Comments

why don't they turn it down

[matrix0040]

if all they want from the beacon is
to restore the Art Deco charm of the skyscraper as they convert it from office space to residential condominiums
and if
The beacon may look nice, they say, but it no longer serves any practical purpose,
then what's the point in competing with the downtown lighting .. just turn it down a bit .. 7 billion candlepower is a gross waste of energy and ofcourse they need to adjust their focus so as not to get into other peoples homes.

insane

[maxbayes]

what if someone decided to build a taller building around the place .. won't this beacon even if it's highly focussed get in the way and disturb the residents of that building.

International Dark-Sky Association

[FreeMath]

For those interested, the IDA provides information on what the problem is, how to help, and has some pictures that illustrate the problem well.

Light Trespass

[mgarraha]

Shining your lights into someone else's windows is called light trespass. Some recent lighting ordinances codify it as exceeding a certain illumination level, e.g. 0.1 foot-candles, at the property boundary. If a 7 billion candlepower source puts 10 percent of its light outside the beam, it illuminates surfaces a mile away with 2 foot-candles, or 20 times more light than the full moon. If the beam is 10 degrees wide, at 1 mile it gives 10,000 foot-candles, about the same as the sun. Maybe a vandal sniper can convince the developers that this little Art Deco restoration project is not worth the cost of perpetual replacement.

Re:Light Trespass

[Anonymous Coward]

Slashdot has been Invaded by Martians!

This Martian is Copyright © 2001 keesh. You may redistribute it under the terms of the GNU General
Public License version 2 or later.

Re:Light Trespass

[Anonymous Coward]

Or, slightly less likely, someone with stealth ninja skills and some cash to blow could sneak a big lens up to it and possibly melt something if it could be pointed at a building for an extended period of time(The picture of it looks like it might rotate like a lighthouse or could just points upwards and was tilted for the picture, couldn't tell)

reflect it back

[maxbayes]

take a big mirror and reflect the light back on the Art Deco charmed building .. soon the ppl living there will have enough of their art deco and turn the damn thing off ;-)

Slashdot Poll

[pubudu]

How many stars can you see in the sky on a clear night?

• Billions and Billions.
• More than I can count.
• Maybe a hundred.
• More than ten.
• Less than ten.
• Four, if I count airplanes.
• Just one: CowboyNeal.
• Night?

Re:Slashdot Poll

[ka9dgx]

What's a star?

Us a concave mirror

[BigSlowTarget]

Focus the light to a point and project that on the building. Ever fried ants with a magnifying glass?