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Town Turns Off the Lights To See the Stars
Hugh Pickens writes "Stargazing skies all over the world are disappearing, as the sky above New York City is Class 9 on the Bortle ranking and American suburban skies are typically Class 5, 6, or 7. But some places are making an effort to preserve their skywatching heritage as Exmoor National Park was granted International Dark-Sky Reserve status in November and people in the Exmoor town of Dulverton were challenged to switch off their lights as part of the BBC's Stargazing Live, demonstrating that you don't need special equipment to see the stars more clearly, if you have a decent pair of binoculars. 'The whole idea is to show that even a small town, which is still quite dark, can give off quite a lot of light,' says astronomer Mark Thompson. The event in Dulverton gained a lot of support from local residents and businesses. 'It needed a bit of organization to get everyone to say yes,' says town mayor Chris Nelder. 'We want people to just enjoy the night sky, to treasure the fact we have them and to look after them,' adds Claire O'Connor from Exmoor National Park Authority."
Wish my town would do this from time to time!
That's nice, but aren't the lights on for safety reasons? I mean, if they weren't serving any use, people wouldn't have them in the first place.
"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
I live in a very dark neighborhood... no streetlights within about a mile, and lots of trees (makes stargazing... challenging.) Unfortunately, some of the neighbors don't feel safe unless they leave lights running all night long. It's a very basic human trait: fear of the dark. We have less crime in my dark neighborhood than many nearby well-lit ones, but facts don't erase fear.
I've always lived in semi-rural or town areas in a fairly packed part of the UK. You can see a few stars on a good clear night but there's still a lot of light polution.
I recently went on holiday to a farm in the middle of nowhere in the Yorkshire Dales. I was utterly astounded to find out you can actually see the Milky Way at night - it blew me away. I spent hours just lying on my back in the grass with my mouth open. Wine probably helped. I feel so bad I've missed such a wonder for all these years.
I want a list of atrocities done in your name - Recoil
You see, light causes shadows. And your pedestrian walking home at night will be walking in the light, therefore night blinded by the light (this is why you can't see as many stars at night in a lit street as opposed to your sheltered garden) that illuminates you and makes the shadows deeper.
Meanwhile, the crafty mugger, hiding in the shadow, sees you well illuminated and highlighted out as a target and knows you cannot see them in the shadow, and jumps out on you and mugs you.
The burglar can also see better to use his lockpicks to break into your house.
Your "if they weren't serving any use, people wouldn't have them in the first place" is begging the question: did there have to be a use served for them to be left on 24/7?
This is why I like going back to my hometown, especially during the winter when the sky is cold and clear. Drive to the top of the nearest hill and you can see about ten billion more stars than possible within 20 miles of the city where I live now. My girlfriend grew up in the suburbs and is amazed by the sheer number of stars visible where I grew up. This is exactly the reason why we stick everybody in one big city in New York - so the rest of us in the state can still enjoy the great outdoors.
I couple of years ago I went up to the middle of the Alleghany National Forest in the middle of the day (I live in a suburb of Pittsburgh) to wait until night to see what the skies were like from up there. I've been meaning to go to the Cherry Springs star parties for a while and missed my chance so I felt this would give me an idea of what some naked eye star gazing is like from a remote part of the woods.
So I waited and the sky was really fantastic. I've never seen anything like that from around my local area. Even my local amateur observatory is overrun with light. It gives you a real appreciation for how good the skies can be given that even though I was in the middle of nowhere there was still some ground light.
I wrapped it up around 1 AM because I just didn't want to be driving home half asleep. On the way home I came to one of the first semi-large populated areas (Kittanning, for those of you who know the local area) and I see a plume of light on the horizon. I was pissed to think that Kittanning was letting off so much light and the unbelievable contrast when compared to what I was enjoying the last couple of hours. Suddenly I started to realize that it wasn't light from Kittanning but instead was a nearly full moon rising. We simply don't get that kind of light from the moon when it's below the horizon. The light pollution is so bad that even that glow from the rising moon is washed out.
It's a shame. It really is but I don't think society is going to roll back to sensible lighting habits for a handful of people who really want to see this kind of thing. After all, why watch the night sky when Survivor is on?
"Always consider the possibility that installing a light may aid criminal activity."
http://www.britastro.org/dark-skies/crime.html#noreduction
Bad guys who wave flashlights are easier to spot than bad guys who don't need extra lighting.
Operator, give me the number for 911!
More info over at www.darksky.org . It costs a lot of money/oil to keep all those lights on. Is it worth it? Have your children seen the milky way?
Computers obey me.
Most lights on are 80+% of the time being unused and just on "because who wants dark areas? The scary monsters might get you!"
And you would think I was kidding, but humans are more afraid of the dark than most like to admit. Hiding behind about a hundred different excuses.
I still know plenty of adults now who are scared hitless-missing-an-s of the dark. Like, genuinely scared.
I'd be surprised if it was any lower than that to be honest.
And more than anything, most lights are at a brightness WAY BEYOND anything needed for "safety".
Yes, its fine if you use some nightlights to be able to see, but most of them are as bright as a desk light, if not brighter.
That is completely unneeded.
Most streetlights could be darkened by 75+% and still be useful for in-dwelling roads. (since, you know, CARS HAVE LIGHTS)
In fact, it'd probably be slightly better since car lights would be noticeable around corners and the like compared to when street lights were AS BRIGHT AS THE SUN, so you would certainly know one was coming even if you were deaf.
Imagine the energy saved by cutting all those probably thousands of streetlights in an average town, all those lights burning through that energy all night, not even needed by anyone.
They aren't known as The Unsociable Hours for no reason, nobody is about, are they lighting the place up for the rats? (I know they technically go from 8 till 6, still)
Not like cars need them, there aren't lights on the thousands of miles of road between towns.
And humans technically should be wearing luminescent clothing at night in the first place if they actually want to be safe. Most don't due to ignorance and "it looks guff". Won't be saying that when you lose your arm.
I rarely ever have the lights on after hours, besides some little LED lights to give basic definition to the room.
Rarely being if other people were around, or if I am looking for anything.
Anything that requires light should be done during the day is my thoughts on it.
The amount of energy wasted on lights is horrendously awful. Same goes with heating. Overheating houses is the worst offense.
Humans evolved OUTDOORS. Stop wasting money on so much heating. It annoys me greatly when someone is sitting there half naked and says "OH GOD ITS FREEZING PUT THE HEATING ON" or something like that. If you are too cold, put some clothes on damn it.
Some people have heating up at ridiculous levels. I remember walking in to someones house once, in to the living room, it was like walking in to a sauna without the steam.
I'm in Scotland at that. A place where it happily snows in the middle of a hot summer and nobody thinks twice about it.
We got it. But why the argument was necessary in the first place I cannot imagine.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
About 35 years ago I got the chance to sail to Hawaii from San Francisco in a small (31') sail boat. Believe me, when you are 1000 miles from the nearest light the night sky is astounding. It is very obvious why the ancient people put so much stock in the night sky: it hangs over you like a presence you can feel.
More recently I used to go to Death Valley for a good night sky, but that is becoming increasingly problematic. Even when there is no moon, there is so much light from Las Vegas and Los Angeles it looks like the moon about to rise (in two places!). *snif*
Most outdoor lights are very wasteful because too much of the light doesn't go where it is needed. Most streetlights only throw about half of their output downward with the rest going sideways (and over the horizon toward the sky) or upwards. There ARE fully shielded streetlights that throw almost all of their light DOWNWARD and these can be of lower wattage to give the same effect without causing light pollution. Even better if they are low pressure sodium lamps which emit light on only two wavelengths of light that can be removed from telescopes and cameras with a simple filter. We need to outlaw all unshielded streetlamps and mandate the use of low pressure sodium lamps in them. Give cities 5 years to remove all existing old tech lighting. Not only will this give us back our skies, but will reduce our energy usage.
This would be reduced significantly.
Honestly, the U of M did this. they threw away all the crap street and building exterior lighting and replaced them with fixtures that do not waste light by spraying it upwards and sideways. All light is controlled.
IT made a huge difference to the light pollution around their observatory on campus.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
I wish the cruise ships I'd travelled on had done this. It would have been awesome being in the middle of the ocean and seeing the stars. But no... the whole upper deck was brilliantly lit and there were strings of multicolored party lights hanging over the deck.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
Taken with a Canon EOS 50D camera -- no telescope.
These too, though you have to be somewhat northerly to see this stuff.
THAT is what YOU could see, if you could get your town to turn off the lights.
Streetlights? Phooey. Just carry a flashlight. They also make special lamps that don't reflect a lot of light upwards if you must have light (why???)
You -- and especially your kids, if you have any -- are missing a heck of a lot if you live, as most do, in the midst of light pollution.
Trust me on this one: Outdoor artificial lighting is overrated.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.