Light pollution

[Erki]

http://bp1.blogger.com/_o0ypfzIr164/Rxtwq3vFv2I/AAAAAAAAAG8/ez-TXrnwhfk/s1600-h/IMG_0936.JPG

This is how San Francisco looked like on Saturday evening. I don't see any stars on that photo but I guess there were some in the sky. More about the whole thing here (http://www.lightsoutsf.org/index.html).

The climate change issue has been beaten to a coma in another thread so those who want, can continue on there. :)

Just yesterday I was looking at pictures of some cities' skylines, at day and at night. Some were pretty spectacular. Coloured lightning is cool. :)

However... it's kinda unnatural. Moonlight and light from stars would be awesome. If I could see the stars, that is. :\ And it's not just myopia. I read somewhere that these days, there is so much light pollution that the number of stars visible in sky is considerable lower than like, 10? 20? something like this years ago. Wow. :)

I live in a quite polluted area... Just 2-3 kms aways are big glasshouses with heating and lightning where people grow cucumbers. I can't look out of the window at night without seeing a dark sky, there's always that huge patch of yellow-ish light. Irritating, kinda. And I like cucumbers. :p

And in the end... it's mostly down to aesthetics anyway, so it such a huge issue anyway? Discuss.

[BDunnell]

I think it's a shame in many ways, and I'm sure that the UK is over-lit at night compared to many mainland European countries. However, others would argue that having better-lit streets at night is favourable for safety reasons.

What there is no justification for is shops leaving lights on in their windows all night when they are firmly closed.

[GridGirl]

I went on a trip to see the Northern Lights last year. Before we went there was a talk by an astonomer saying how light pollution had affected our ability to see the stars. He showed a picture taken about 15 years ago which showed the stars being amazingly bright. He recreated the same picture about two years ago and you can hardly see any stars at all.

I live between two cities so the only time I really get to see the stars is when I go to somewhere like the Lake District, Cumbria. :)

[tinchote]

http://bp1.blogger.com/_o0ypfzIr164/Rxtwq3vFv2I/AAAAAAAAAG8/ez-TXrnwhfk/s1600-h/IMG_0936.JPG

This is how San Francisco looked like on Saturday evening. I don't see any stars on that photo but I guess there were some in the sky. More about the whole thing here (http://www.lightsoutsf.org/index.html).

The climate change issue has been beaten to a coma in another thread so those who want, can continue on there. :)

Just yesterday I was looking at pictures of some cities' skylines, at day and at night. Some were pretty spectacular. Coloured lightning is cool.

However... it's kinda unnatural. Moonlight and light from stars would be awesome. If I could see the stars, that is. :\ And it's not just myopia. I read somewhere that these days, there is so much light pollution that the number of stars visible in sky is considerable lower than like, 10? 20? something like this years ago. Wow.

I live in a quite polluted area... Just 2-3 kms aways are big glasshouses with heating and lightning where people grow cucumbers. I can't look out of the window at night without seeing a dark sky, there's always that huge patch of yellow-ish light. Irritating, kinda. And I like cucumbers. :p

And in the end... it's mostly down to aesthetics anyway, so it such a huge issue anyway? Discuss.

The link wouldn't open :(

I would love to see the stars more often, and it's not that hard here because we live in a small city. But in a big city, what are you going to do? A dark big city is not really a good idea, is it? :mark:

[Erki]

The link wouldn't open :(

I would love to see the stars more often, and it's not that hard here because we live in a small city. But in a big city, what are you going to do? A dark big city is not really a good idea, is it? :mark:

I don't know which link you mean... here's the picture of dark SF: http://lightsoutsf.blogspot.com/2007/10/thank-you.html

Yes, dark big city sounds iffy to me too. More so that I actually like lights. Christmas lights coming soon too - woo hoo! :) Maybe we need littler cities? :\

[CCFanatic]

Every major city on the planet is like that. Nothing new. I bet some inner city people have never seen real night sky in life. With the stars and the UFO's.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I live in a rural area and I have to say that the sky on a clear night is a spectacular/beautiful sight.

[Daniel]

Perth used to be really nice in this respect. But then they just started building further and further North. It's harder to see less bright stars now. It's a bit better where I live now but you still see the glow from towns up the coast. I'm hoping when LED lighting becomes more prevalent you'll see light being thrown in one direction rather than in all directions by incadescent and flourescent lighting.

[BDunnell]

Perth used to be really nice in this respect. But then they just started building further and further North. It's harder to see less bright stars now. It's a bit better where I live now but you still see the glow from towns up the coast. I'm hoping when LED lighting becomes more prevalent you'll see light being thrown in one direction rather than in all directions by incadescent and flourescent lighting.

You're quite right — the type of lighting does have an effect. I notice this when I'm in Germany, where the street lighting is different to that in the UK.

[Daniel]

You're quite right — the type of lighting does have an effect. I notice this when I'm in Germany, where the street lighting is different to that in the UK.
If you ever go into an art gallery or something it will be even more graphically illustrated (no pun intended) by the fact that they generally only use lighting that can be directed (LED or Halogen) rather than light which just goes everywhere. Drive down a dark lane at night and you'll see that the reflectors and bulbs do a good job of lighting up what they need to and no more than that :)

[Drew]

It's just one downfall of living in a city. But it makes seeing stars even more special, then :)