November 2010 new moon at the Keota, CO star party
site.
Several of us were doing astro-photography. This 15
minute piggyback
exposure is a last glimpse of Sagittarius
for this season.
The constellation pointing to the center of
our galaxy,
The Milky Way, and many bright nebula, globular
clusters,
even a star cloud or two, none of which are visible
due to Light
Pollution.
The reason
we now have to travel some 60-90 miles to a
dark site
is the extreme degradation of the night sky due
to the Light
Pollution from the Front Range, which runs
down the central
longitude of Colorado and can now be
seen from
Wyoming to New Mexico and almost to the
Kansas border.
The image above was centered on Sagittarius
and had
the unfortunate
coincidence of also being in line with the
Denver, Longmont,
Greeley light dome, 90 - 40 miles away.
As is evident
in this picture the full 25* of the sky is
obscured by
light pollution (a tiny bit of of haze). At the
bottom of
this image, the 'Gamma'
was detended 90% to
show the radical
difference LP causes.
The light
streaks are from jets coming and going to
Denver International
Airport as well as the streaks of
several street
lights. With the center of the 'D-L-G'
light
dome being
closer to the left (south) side of this image.
In the last 10 years local amateur astronomers have
had to travel
eastward to find dark skies to view the heavens,
at about the
rate of 2 miles/year. As it stands now, we are
6 miles closer
to Sterling to the east, than we are from
Ft. Collins
to the west. If this situation continues, in another
10 years or
so we will be observing under the Sterling light
dome which
will obscure the sky to the east. Many
astronomical
clubs are experiencing the same problem and
are working
with the International Dark-Sky
Association,
to fight Light
Pollution, which also has monetary, health
and
crime
considerations.
The increasing interest is not only due to the effects on t he sky, but
effects it has on migrating
and indiginous
wildlife and dirunal health issues on people. Also contrary to popular
belief, there
seems to be
no decrease in crime when more unshielded illumination is used at night
in urban areas.
Also making strides in awareness and compiling data to document the change
in the Night Sky
for the last
ten years is The National Park Service, they have been Monitoring
U.S. parks, within
the Natural
Lightscapes project, in an effort to make the public aware of the problem,
as well as
recommending
light pollution abatement strategies for parks and some nearby concerned
towns,
that recognise
a dark night sky is a virtue in attracting tourist trade.
So
if you would like to see the Milky
Way again or for the first time, the recommend
to
your cities that measures be enforced so that proper luminaries are used,
that
these
lights be shielded and pointed level with the horizon, and used only where
and
when needed.
Light Pollution Horror Story about a Golden, Colorado Auto Dealership
What could be worse than living next to a car dealership that lights up
dozens of blocks of
residences
at night and has the blessing of the local city government backing their
flagrant
disregard
for city code, even to the point of changing the law in order to protect
businesses
and
car dealerships rights to light pollute the area. Read about the
action when 1 man did
the
city's job and fought this injustice, even to the point where he had to
mortgaged his own
house.
U.S. Light Pollution Measures
Do We Need 8000 New Street Lights in Colorado Springs?
Colorado Springs & surrounding area residents:
There
is a major lighting proposal that will definitely affect many communities
around
Colorado
Springs. This proposal includes an installation of 8,000 new street lights
around
the Colorado Springs area. Even though the proposal is local, many cities
and
towns
20-50 miles away will be affected by this measure if it comes to light.
AS
OF DECEMBER 18TH, 2009 THE CITY COUNCIL HAS APPROVED
APPROPRIATIONS
FOR THIS PROJECT.
With
the e-mails of mayor, city council memebers and commisioners.
European Light Pollution Measures
Many
councils switching off street lights to save money
BBC
News - UK,
10
November 2010
Many
councils are turning off street lights as a means of saving money,
BBC Newsnight
has
learned. Of 75 councils it spoke to in England and Wales, 32 said they
would turn
some
lights off, nine are dimming lights and 14 considering street light cutbacks.
There
are is no statutory obligation for councils to light the streets and flicking
the
switch
is a cost-effective option in a time of austerity cuts...
We Live on the Earth......so why light the sky?
Fight Light Pollution.....shield your lights !!
Think cosmic !! Nov. 17, 2010 Re-editted
Jan 13, 2011, March 5, 2020 ......