Dark Sky

In most cities & suburb, it is next to impossible to see the night sky as in a planetarium for instance.

Do you think that:

1- It will change people perspective, if they could be reminded, every night of their place in the universe.

2- Should light pollution be avoided ?, what should be the driving force toward that (government policies, energy cost saving, etc.).

3- Do you think that the best promotional pitch for this will be thru a popular movie taking place in a near future, special effects be used to show how nice a dark sky (in city environment) will/could look like.

when i was working in a rural area of france one evening i stepped outside and i caught sight of the sky and my jaw dropped. it was an unbelievable sight... you see, i live in London and the light pollution is so bad that even on a clear night you'll be fortunate to count 8 stars(no exageration) but what i saw was so impressive that for the first time i took a chair out into the garden and just staired at the awesomeness of the universe. it was so clear that you could see a thick band of stars( our milky way) stretch from one horizon to the next. gorgeous!!!!

makes life worth living.

i agree with you but cities are so dangerous at night with criminals i just cant see how the local councils can reduce the street lighting. it would probably encourage more theft, sad as it may sound.

only in an ideal world.

I love the night, and often take walks after dark. The wilderness on a clear moonless night is the perfect setting for stargazing, and at times I have counted 5 satellites at once crossing overhead. I am saddened that the fear of crime might hinder the reintroduction of true night. It is symbolic of infinity to me, and mystery, and as Satchmo says, it is the 'the dark, sacred night.'
The day is beautiful too, but there is something more spiritual about the night to me. Things are not so controlled and visible, which adds an element of awe to the dark. I need to spend time in the dark, it soothes me and humbles me at the same time. It makes me realize how immense creation is, there are no boundaries in the dark, eternity seems more real at night, to me.
I have been lucky, I guess, cuz no matter where I have been, I have not feared going for a walk at night. I am sure there are places I would though.

There is filters now you can buy that removes all the light that is caused by street lights.

I think the simple fact is there are so many other things around that no one really cares about stargazing and looking at stuff that has been around, and will be around for years to come.

Kids really should be exposed to this kind of stuff becaue you cannot beilve the way it opens thier mind and actaully gets them interesting in learning some things. I was able to spend a whole night looking at the night sky and point out things, or looking at them thru a telescope.

It is THIER loss if they dont want to see the wonders taht have been created

Best way is to promote it is to actally have a popular movie with a main character that uses his stargazging to interact with people on another level. Like decribing thier eyes as a star and showing them what it looks like. Or myths around the constilations it is in

take a good writer.. but it might happen... sad thing is all it will ned up being is a fad, jsut like the wine fad of Sideways

I have been fortunate to witness several true night experiences away from the city lights. Probably the best experience that I had was being 100 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico on our fishing boat.

It was a rare occassion where there was no wind, no moon, dry air, and not even a ripple on the water. On top of all that, being that far out with those conditions, there was absolutely NO sound from anything other than our own breathing. It was eerily beautiful. That night we also noted several satellites, MIR, and 2 significant fireballs.

Glad to hear others are as concerned about light pollution as I am.

Peace,

W.E.S.B

I hate light pollution! I live in a rural area and have very dark skies. I'm in the darkest spot of Virginia according to the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club. I have a VERY bright gas station across the street from me that kills the sky from my yard. However, if I load my telescopes in my car and drive 10 minutes I can see the clouds of the the Milky Way naked eye. I have a hard time finding any of the constellations because they blend in to the thousands of other stars in the sky.

At the observatory where I work, we do a light pollution presentation. Here's a link to a text version, just doesn't have all the whistles and bells of the live version though. I think you'll find it interesting.

Our Vanishing Night - Erosion of the Night Sky From Light Pollution

Its definatley a problem for the star gazers amongst us. I can remember as a boy (im over 40 kiddies!) the night sky being filled with points of light impossible to count. Over the years the number diminished as the night sky slowly went from black to a perpetual twilight. Im talking about living in Australias largest city, Sydney but it applies to any city in the world.

7 years ago I moved myself the family and the 5" Newtonian to rural Australia, 400kms from Sydney. The nearest major light source is 50kms away and its a town of less than 5000 people. I very rarely bother even to set up the telescope anymore. I just walk outside and look up and see things with the naked eye that required the scope in Sydney. Omega Centauri, the Magellanic Clouds and of course the Milky Way that stretches from horizon to horizon here in the southern hemisphere. You really dont know how much your missing out on untill you get away from the citys. Light pollution is a major problem.

As far as getting kids interested ive never had a problem. Every time we have visitors I make it a point to take the kids and adults outside and give them a guided tour of the heavens. Its not untill about 20mins into the tour that their eyes become dark adapted and its then you here remarks such as "Bloody hell!! Where did all those stars come from?" The guests usually want to know more so we end up surfing NASA and such for more info and amazing pictures that most have never seen. Most generally leave with a greater understanding and appreciation of the night sky, which cant be a bad thing.