Town Turns Off the Lights To See the Stars 222
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."
Fear of the dark... (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
Re:Sounds awesome! (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Nice, but... (Score:5, Interesting)
Dark skies (Score:2, Interesting)
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?
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Nice, but... (Score:5, Interesting)
People may say they feel whatever, but there are plenty of studies that show no correlation, or even an increase in crime.
Light can be a great help to criminals. Not least of which they're easier to spot when waving a flashlight. Also, if your under a streetlight, EVERYBODY NOT under a light is automatically hidden from you. But when everyone is in equal lighting and can see equally, it's harder to hide.
It's amazing how many people don't even know their eyes will adjust.
Most probably some types of crime will go up and others will go down. I'll leave it to you type "street lights crime study" into google.
Well, you'd think, but no, not really... (Score:3, Interesting)
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.
Yes... (Score:4, Interesting)
We got it. But why the argument was necessary in the first place I cannot imagine.
Re:Sounds awesome! (Score:4, Interesting)
I've lived in cities all my life and AFAIK, I've never seen the Milky Way. I wouldn't even know it was supposed to visible in the night sky if I hadn't seen pictures of it in books. Human's have done amazing things to adapt to our environment, and we've become the most adaptive species in the planet's history. But there is always a cost, unfortunately.
The sky is unbelievable in the total dark. (Score:5, Interesting)
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*
IF people had the right light fixtures.... (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
Re:Nice, but... (Score:4, Interesting)
I think you completely missed his point.
He pointed out that if everyone is in the same low level of light then everyone will see equally because their eyes will adjust, thus if someone is raping you you will be more easily seen in a dark bush by someone whose eyes are adjusted to the dark due to lack of lighting, whilst if someone has dragged you into a dark bush to rape you when they are walking in the light, because their eyes wont have adjusted to the dark it'll actually be harder for them to see you.
What you say is only true if someone rapes you in the light, but what rapist is stupid enough to do that? Most happen after their victims have been dragged somewhere dark, where most people can't see because they're walking in the light and their eyes are adjusted to the light.
Re:Nice, but... (Score:4, Interesting)
My experience is that people who spent their formative years in the city feel more secure with more light, those who grew up in the country feel more secure with less light.
Cruise Ships (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Nice, but... (Score:5, Interesting)
Crime is very low in Flagstaff, in fact among the lowest in the state: http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/az/crime/ [neighborhoodscout.com]
Flagstaff was the first Dark Sky City in the world, and achieved that by making nearly all outdoor lighting Low-Pressure Sodium (LPS) emission lamps. LPS is much lower power than High Pressure Sodium or Mercury (the typical alternatives), thus saving the city massive amounts of money on energy bills. In addition, LPS is monochromatic, making it easily blocked by even mildly sophisticated amateur astronomers. And the minimal skyglow has allowed the local research telescopes to survive, thus pumping tens of millions of dollars into the local economy.
Speaking as a professional (and occasional amateur) astronomer, Flagstaff is much, much better off because its Dark Skies.
Re:Sounds awesome! (Score:5, Interesting)
It's even better if you can get away in the winter, because the cold dry air doesn't hold as much pollution.
Re:Sounds awesome! (Score:5, Interesting)
You watch too much TV. Most criminals are not sophisticated enough to operate in darkness. Turning off more lights tends to be a deterrent, since the criminals can't see anything.
Re:Sounds awesome! (Score:4, Interesting)
In White Rock (outside Los Alamos, NM), this is done every 2-3 months during the new moon. There's a large park (Overlook Park for anyone who cares) with no nearby houses. The street lights all go dark and the local astronomy nerds all bring out their telescopes (starting at about $1k and going well beyond $30k) to train on interesting stuff in the sky and talk to anyone interested about their gear and whatever they're trained on for people to come see. Really nice event for nerds and families alike. Nerdy families especially.