Skykeepers
skykeepers.org founded September 1, 1999
Light Pollultion Talk by Jack Sales Nevada County Astronomers April 14 2008
At Madelyn Helling Library Community Room 980 Helling Way, Nevada City, CA 95959 Google Map
At Madelyn Helling Library Community Room 980 Helling Way, Nevada City, CA 95959 Google Map
Truckee
officials trying to reduce light pollution (SacBee Tue. Dec. 25
2007)
This AP story has drawn considerable attention by the press in California, especially by the TV stations.
Officials in this well know Nevada County town have been addressing Light Pollution for a number of years.
Truckee's GP, development and municipal codes has been sited on skykeepers and darksky web sites for some time, as far back as 2003 or more.
Hats off to Truckee. More information and analysis can be found on the Outdoor Lighting Regulations in California page (Nevada County).
A rundown of the new coverage can be found on the Media Coverage page.
This AP story has drawn considerable attention by the press in California, especially by the TV stations.
Officials in this well know Nevada County town have been addressing Light Pollution for a number of years.
Truckee's GP, development and municipal codes has been sited on skykeepers and darksky web sites for some time, as far back as 2003 or more.
Hats off to Truckee. More information and analysis can be found on the Outdoor Lighting Regulations in California page (Nevada County).
A rundown of the new coverage can be found on the Media Coverage page.
Help
is needed for booth setup, attending and take down for 08:00am -
4:30pm
The Salmon Festival - Rancho Cordova, CA - October 14 - 15, 10am - 4pm
American River Salmon Festival
Contact Jack Sales, 726-7405, 747-7405.
The Salmon Festival - Rancho Cordova, CA - October 14 - 15, 10am - 4pm
American River Salmon Festival
Contact Jack Sales, 726-7405, 747-7405.
STATUS
- It was one of the best event we have ever displayed
at! We handed out over 1,000 Meteor Show Calendars and
other information!
World --
On December 25, 2007 a new website was launched, The World At Night (TWAN) . As stated TWAN is a new program that will produce and present a collection of stunning photographs of the world’s most beautiful and historic sites against the nighttime backdrop of stars, planets and celestial events.
The TWAN New page notes "On Christmas day, 25 December 2007, NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) announced The World At Night project".
Of special note to this IDA Member and I am sure many others are the astrophotographs of Wally Pacholka. During the many years of attending the starry Night Festival (SNF) in Yucca Valley, CA, Wally has been a fixture. The reason for this is his long relationship with Joshua Tree National Park and of course Joshua Tree NP has been a integral part of SNF from the beginning. The connection to IDA is that from the beginning SNF has included a IDA Regional Meeting. From all reports this year was one of the best. No doubt because of Bob Gent being back at the helm and Teri Jackson, Riverside County Section Leader so close and supporting the IDA activities. The activities and displays by the California Members can be seen spread thought out the Sections Activities page from 1989 to 2002.
Wherever in the world you are on October 20, 2007, join the citizens of San Francisco when they turn off their nonessential lights for one hour – An event of Lights Out San Francisco, supported by IDA. Watch for a national event in your hometown in March, 2008.
Websters note --- it's "Lamp"
not "Bulb" CFL, the "L" = Lamp
National --
- THE DARK SIDE, BY DAVID OWEN
THE NEW YORKER
MAGAZINE
AUGUST 20, 2007 p. 28
OUR FAR-FLUNG CORRESPONDENTS about light pollution and its effect on astronomy and the environment. Writer describes Galileo Galilei’s 1610 astronomical observations. Today, by contrast, most Americans are unable to see the Milky Way in the sky above the place where they live. The stars have not, of course, become dimmer; rather, the earth has become vastly brighter, so that celestial objects are harder to detect. Air pollution has made the atmosphere less transparent and more reflective, and high levels of terrestrial illumination have washed out the stars overhead—a phenomenon called “sky glow.”
In my opinion this is the best "light pollution" story ever published by a popular magazine. The Webmaster
More on the web -- The
Hitchhiker's Guide to Light Pollution - Wired Science, August 14, 2007 -- Wonderful and
responses to coverage of THE DARK SIDE article in THE NEW YORKER
MAGAZINE!
"Update: Our Wired blog comrades over at the Underwire recently posted about a streetlight that senses when the moon is bright and adjusts its intensity accordingly, thus saving energy and letting pedestrians see our celestial kid brother. Pretty cool."
Walking by Moonlight - Underwire, August 10, 2007 -- "The Civil Twilight Design Collective has designed a street lamp that can sense and respond to the moon's ambient light. As the moon goes through its phases through out the month, cities streelamps would dim and brighten accordingly. Not only would this allow moonlight to be more apparent, it could save the city millions of dollars in electricity bills." ...The Civil Twilight Design Collective the latest project is Lunar-resonant Streetlights! CHECK IT OUT!!
"The idea won this year's Metropolis Next Generation ideas competition.The lunar-resonant streetlights retrofits existing streetlights with dimmable LED bulbs and a highly sensitive photo-sensor cell."
"Civil Twilight’s research indicates that streetlights account for 38 percent of the electricity used for lighting in the United States—that’s close to 300 million tons of carbon emissions a year."
Another link to great comments about the NEW YORKER article, Making War On Light Pollution
- The
Hitchhiker's Guide to Light Pollution - Wired Science, August 14, 2007 -- Wonderful and
responses to coverage of THE DARK SIDE article in THE NEW YORKER
MAGAZINE!
- Study
- Harsh Lighting May Damage
Embryos --- YA THINK !! ---
"People do not pay much attention to light as a negative environmental factor," he said.
Find out who said that and review the extensive media coverage!
About 24,300 Google Hits
San Diego County --
- Tribe
to build $300 million casino-resort, San Diego Union
Tribune, United States -Aug 9, 2007
Observatory spokesman Scott Kardel said light pollution affecting observations at the mountaintop telescopes comes not just from the Indian casinos, but also from the growth of nearby cities. In the report, the tribe says it will try to keep lights to a minimum and will focus all lights toward buildings or the ground, away from the sky.
Please see CALTECH ASTRONOMY - Outdoor Lighting a Pauma Casino
Sacramento County ---
-
Notes from Deer Creek Hills Bat and Astronomy Night
Sacramento Valley Conservancy
www.sacramentovalleyconservancy.org
- Lights out on Britain's bats, As more buildings are lit up at night, bats are in trouble - because they need darkness to feed.
- Vision in Echolocating Bats, The aim of this thesis is to investigate the use of vision by echolocating bats.
- IMPACT OF LIGHTING ON BATS (.pdf)
- "Ecological Light Pollution" in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment (.pdf 300k)
- Environmental Effects of Light Pollution, darksky.org
- Photobiology and Pathology, darksky.org
- The
Sacramento County General Plan is being updated. Support
Dark Skies with your comments.
The Sacramento County General Plan Draft now addresses Light Pollution and Outdoor Lighting!
See Skykeepers of Sacramento County for more details.
- Seeing stars is simple as turning down the lights Sacramento Bee - Aug 27, 2007
03 APR 2008
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