Posted on 06/10/2016 12:01:21 PM PDT by C19fan
It’s not a problem. Except for those to whom it is a problem.
It’s Trump’s fault...
But it doesn’t HAVE to. That’s the big reason to point out that it’s pollution. Using the right kind of lights and the right kind of fixtures ordinary human activity doesn’t have to inconvenience anybody.
“But it is my right to see the mweeky way! Stop all electricity!”
Oh good lord...
No, no one is talking about “rights” or taking away “muh electricity”. People are talking about the needlessness of shining streetlights and your house floodlights into the sky (or straight out into other people’s yards), where they arent doing jack but blotting out the sky. What are you “protecting” by pointing a light straight up anyway?
And I find it odd that as much as we talk about how we are the protectors of western civilization, and traditionalism, one of the pillars of it were the common knowledge and use of the night sky for navigation, timekeeping, religious observance, and the regulating of crop planting/harvesting, not to mention many of the early classical works were in part either directly tied to constellation mythology or were direct descendants of mythology that came from the same.
To just casually blot that out is no different than some professor ignoring classical knowledge because we have “better” stuff to replace it.
I could see the Milky Way in this part of North Carolina as a child. That changed with the advent of those orange sodium vapor streetlights. The old blue ones didn’t cast such a glow.
“It’s not a problem. Except for those to whom it is a problem.”
I guess not seeing that nothing of value like this is taught to kids, and their parents dont give a crap either.
Out of sight, out of mind.
A degree in Illumination Engineering is not required to understand this. Anyone can try this simple experiment: Try finding your way around the house at night with an omnidirectional lantern held at arm's length, which shines as much light into your eyes as it does on what's ahead. Now try it again but using a flashlight, which shines light only ahead. Note the tremendous improvement in "convenience and safety" of the latter method. This is the difference between bad and good outdoor lighting.
I lived near the beach in San Francisco and had a backyard facing west, we got a relative good amount of star gazing for a large city. But when we went up to Mendocino county, with no moon it was unbelievable, and I am very thankful I got to see it so many times.
I live in a remote rural area and can see the Milky Way just fine except when there are summer people and tourists occupying the tourist cabins scattered along this road-I don’t get why they come out here to BFE and turn on all the lights on the property-including those mercury vapor ones on 20 foot tall poles-you’d think they’re expecting a robbery or a driveby shooting as if they were in the high-crime area of a major city...
The glow from the nearest city-almost 50 miles away-is almost completely hidden by the hills between here and there-I do have to get out from under the overhanging trees to watch meteor showers...
SoCal has never seen it. I’ve seen it up in Mariposa, CA and other parts of the world.
Thanks for pointing out that ridiculousness.
Sucks to be you guys. I can see it in my backyard.
Don’t have to move that far. I can see it every night from outside of Reno.
Well the blue mercury vapor lights are being phased out. LED street lights offer a lot of versatility and the ability to control where the light shines...and they now cost out better than other lights. The city skylines should be getting a bit dimmer as fixtures are replaced.
It is not just street lighting. It is LOTS of street lighting. In my neighborhood I can stand 20 yards from a streetlight and still see it. It is a combination of tons of lights and air full of small particles (or clouds).
” One can see the glow of Las Vegas over the horizon from a long distance away.”
If it is anything like Reno you can probably see it 40+ miles away.
“People are talking about the needlessness of shining streetlights and your house floodlights into the sky”
Who shines needlessly into the sky? The lights shine and a fraction of it is bounced back to the sky. When there are hundreds of thousands of lights, the sky would be naturally “polluted”. Look at the night sky from space. Civilized places have glowing nights. If you want to see the best view of the milky way, nobody is stopping you from going to Africa or Antarctica. Btw, the modern Western Civilization was built on electricity. Hands off “muh electricity”.
great views of the Milky Way from North Korea
Thank you, Hugh Heffner.
We should emulate North Korea. They have the best Milky Way visible. Also, their carbon footprint is really low.
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