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Night Being 'Lost' To Artificial Light (bbc.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: A study of pictures of Earth by night has revealed that artificial light is growing brighter and more extensive every year. Between 2012 and 2016, the planet's artificially lit outdoor area grew by more than 2 percent per year. Scientists say a "loss of night" in many countries is having negative consequences for "flora, fauna, and human well-being." A team published the findings in the journal Science Advances. It showed that changes in brightness over time varied greatly by country. Some of the world's "brightest nations," such as the US and Spain, remained the same. Most nations in South America, Africa and Asia grew brighter. Only a few countries showed a decrease in brightness, such as Yemen and Syria -- both experiencing warfare. The nocturnal satellite images -- of glowing coastlines and spider-like city networks -- look quite beautiful but artificial lighting has unintended consequences for human health and the environment.
If you want to add exterior lighting to your home, there is pretty much just "flood" style lights on the market. These lights shine at a very wide angle, meaning most of it is wasted. Even if you want to buy better light fixtures, they are very hard to find.
One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
Odd thing is, a healthy set of eyes can adjust to most conditions at night - at least enough to avoid tripping on anything. Under a full moon, you can see pretty much anything you need to (as long as you're not in the deep woods or anything). You just have to sit still in the dark until your eyes adjust.
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
We don't have street lights in my town and we manage to not hit things. There are these things called headlights installed on my car. Try turning yours on.
I work with an organization that operates at a wilderness site, some 50+ miles from the nearest population center. We ourselves are very careful with our outdoor lighting, providing just enough illumination to be safe, and no more than that. As such, our skies are absolutely incredible.
One of the things I love to do is if I run into someone new on a clear night is to basically go "So.... have you looked up?" in so many cases, they haven't yet, and are simply blown away. It's really quite sad how many people have never seen the Milky Way with their own eyes. The amusing thing, though, is that there are so many stars that it is actually rather difficult to pick out the normal constellations.
The thing that really pisses me off, though, is the people who insist on walking everywhere with a headlamp or a flashlight. Just let your eyes dark adjust; after a minute or two, even starlight is enough to safely make your way around on well maintained roads/paths.
...si hoc legere nimium eruditionis habes...
Some 20 years ago I bought a house that had pretty dark skies. So I spent some coin on a 3" refractor, it worked really well so I got a 10" cassegrain. Got about 2 years of great viewing. The kids enjoyed it, I enjoyed it, the neighbors enjoyed it. Then a high school a mile away built lights for the football field, and I lost half my dark sky. That sucked ass, especially as I was paying taxes to pay the electric bill to light up my back yard when that was the last thing I wanted.
About a year later someone built what I called The Taj Mahal down the hill, maybe 1/4 away from me. The front face fronted both the street it was built on, and my house. They lit that fucker up like Oscar night in Hollywood. Every fucking night. I could damn near read in my back yard by the light from that goddamned building.
So, scopes went into storage, about once a year we'd head out to the Anza Borrego desert (La Casa del Zorro used to rock, but haven't been there since they closed and opened under new management).
Someone explain to me why a high school stadium needs to light up my back yard 1 mile away, and why a company needs to light up a closed building after hours like it was the fucking temple of all gods.