Light pollution, a subject near and dear to any sky-gazers heart. It seems we are always struggling to educate our fellow citizens that more is not better, it can be far worse, particularly when it comes to the subject of artificial light. We are at odds with the child inside all of us that delights in the creation of light, a magic that never seems to lose its charm.
Downtown Waimea with new LED streetlights and old LPSUnfortunately artificial light has a price, and it can be steep, a hidden cost that many do not see. Light at night consumes a lot of energy, megawatts that are simply wasted illuminating places where no one sees it. Or worse, mega watts that are shone into the sky where it has no benefit at all.
Artificial light harms many species that live near our cities and towns, birds, sea-turtles, and more lured to their doom by the lights. The light also harm us, disturbing circadian rhythms and other natural cycles necessary for good health.
Light pollution also obscures the stars, drowning out the universe that would otherwise shine brightly overhead. Besides being a subject we should all care about, the night skies have a real economic impact here in Hawaii, a state largely dependent on a healthy environment and the tourists that come to enjoy that environment.
There are quite a few different bills proposed for this session of the Hawaii legislature that address astronomy and Mauna Kea. Of the more interesting there are proposals for an independant manangement body for the mauna, 4WD drive access to Mauna Kea and Waipio valley, addressing light pollution, and an audit of OMKM.
Sunrise over Mauna Kea greets me on the morning commute.As some of these proposals have a direct effect on the mauna and upon me personally I intend to address each of these proposals in blog posts. I also intend to submit testimony on these bills, reading and blogging on them will help.
As usual for the Hawaii legislature there is occasionally both a house and senate version some of the bills. These must be reconciled in the end as they wend through the rather interesting process our state lege uses. Several of these have passed first reading, the first weeding out of bills in the process for this session.
It may be the day after Thansgiving, but that did not stop the electrical contractors installing new streetlamps in Waikoloa Village.
The electrical contractors show off the new LED lights for our neighborhoodWe noticed the truck and crane setup mid-morning under the light across the street from our house. It was no surprise, the streetlights have been getting changed throughout the neighborhood over the last couple months. The new LED lamps are far better, with almost no glare seen from the side.
We are not sad to see the old low pressure sodium light go, it has been a nuisance. The poorly designed sodium lamp creating glare into our windows We had called to complain with the county, but nothing was ever done. The glare intruded on our bedroom window, a real issue, somewhat alleviated by the growth of our plumeria along the front blocking the light, a deliberate solution on my part.
The big question is whether the new LED light improves the astronomy situation from my driveway. The old sodium lamps along the street made it impossible to do visual observing, there was simply too much glare. The new lamps should darken the sky and create far less light directed at my driveway.
Even better, the lamps in question are C&W Energy Star Friendly® units with reduced blue emissions. Elimination of almost all of the blue light greatly reduces scatter in the atmosphere and is better for the observatories.
The view down the street from the driveway with the new LED lampsThis seems to be the case. I can see the light from our driveway where it is strong enough to cast shadows. Still, it is much darker than it was with the sodium lamps. The overall amount of light is way down, indeed the entire neighborhood is darker.
With the old light I was able to do astrophotography from the driveway using an LPR filter that blocked the 589nm of sodium light. The new lights will have a broader spectrum and be more difficult to block. On the other hand they send very little light upwards, possibly improving the situation. It will be interesting to see what the difference is. When the Moon is a few days further gone I will have to setup the camera and find out.
It may also be a good idea to check the old CloudCam images against new images as the replacement continues. It will be interesting to see if the emissions from the neighborhood are effectively reduced as seen from the top of the mountain.
A view of the Earth compiled from nighttime shots from the DMSP satellites, image credit NASA/Goddard Space Flight CenterHere on the Big Island we are fortunate to have very dark skies. Skies from which the stars shine brightly. This is not the case for so many, people who live where city lights have drowned out the glory of the universe in a haze of artificial light.
So often I talk to visitors who come from places where they might see a mere handful of stars. To live in or worse, to grow up in a major metropolitan area, is to lose the beauty that is our night sky. To lose the view of our universe is to reduce that vast universe to just our everyday world. You lose the imagination and sense of wonder that can change everything.
Maybe I am weird, I make a point to get out and spend nights under a dark sky. With a telescope I pass the night looking into the vastness of space. With that experience comes a broader understanding of the scale of our universe and our place within it. To see the galaxies, to know what they are, to gain a glimmer of understanding, it changes your view of who and what we are.
To me this is precious.
Light pollution may be an issue few understand. It has many consequences… Vast amounts of wasted energy and money, impacts on our health and the health of our natural environment. There are many reasons to minimize the impact of artificial lighting. Of these reasons, it is the loss of the starry night sky that can sever our connection to the universe.
This week is International Dark Skies Week. Take a moment to look up at the night sky and understand what you may have have lost.
Here is the stream for tonight’s Keck lecture. Nothing to see if you stop by early (or late). Come by at 7:00pm HST to see Dr. Richard Wainscoat of the University of Hawai’i Institute for Astronomy, “City Dark: Search for Night on a Sleepless Planet.”
Better yet… drop by the Kahilu Theater in Waimea to see the talk in person.
You are invited to attend a free Keck Observatory lecture…
A view of the Earth compiled from nighttime shots from the DMSP satellites during October 1994 to March 1995. Image credit NASA/Goddard Space Flight CenterCity Dark: Search for Night on a Sleepless Planet
Dr. Richard Wainscoat
University of Hawai’i Institute for Astronomy
The advent and spread of electrical lighting has made it ever harder to find the dark skies valued by professional and amateur astronomers, not to mention lovers of starry skies in general. Dr. Wainscoat tells the story about light pollution and astronomy, with special emphasis on light pollution’s effects on the world’s best astronomical observing site: Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawai’i. Dr. Wainscoast is an astronomer as well as an accomplished photographer.
There is no charge for admission to any events in the Makana series.
You are invited to attend a free Keck Observatory lecture…
A view of the Earth compiled from nighttime shots from the DMSP satellites during October 1994 to March 1995. Image credit NASA/Goddard Space Flight CenterCity Dark: Search for Night on a Sleepless Planet
Dr. Richard Wainscoat
University of Hawai’i Institute for Astronomy
The advent and spread of electrical lighting has made it ever harder to find the dark skies valued by professional and amateur astronomers, not to mention lovers of starry skies in general. Dr. Wainscoat tells the story about light pollution and astronomy, with special emphasis on light pollution’s effects on the world’s best astronomical observing site: Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawai’i. Dr. Wainscoast is an astronomer as well as an accomplished photographer.
There is no charge for admission to any events in the Makana series.
Our neighborhood is a somewhat odd case. A large development surrounded by miles of empty land. Get just outside the neighborhood and the skies are quite dark. Inside the neighborhood one has to deal with the usual house lights and a plethora of streetlights. Still, I can see the Milky Way from the driveway, pick out M31 with the unaided eye, and make out a number of star clusters. There is one streetlight directly across the street from my front yard. A notable problem, only partly dealt with by way of a strategically planted Royal Poinciana. A few years old now, the tree has begun to shade the driveway from the worst local light source.
Despite the fact that the neighborhood is disgustingly overlit, there is a mitigating factor. All of the streetlights are low pressure sodium type lights. These lights emit all of their power at 589nm, a sharp emission which can be filtered at the camera. Filters for this and other common light pollution wavelengths are readily available from several manufacturers in a number of sizes and formats.
One minute Orion without LPR filter
While taking some wide field shots using a 50mm lens I had recent opportunity to see the difference with and without the filter. I did not have a filter that fit the 52mm thread on the lens, but rather simply set my 48mm filter on the front of the lens. I had not performed this simple experiment before as the usual mounting location of the filter is buried inside the setup. On this occasion it was a simple matter to take identical frames with and without the filter.
The resulting frames can be seen at the left. These are taken from the camera raw images, imported with daylight color balance, cropped and sized for display. Both images have been handled identically. Neither is a “pretty” picture, these are unprocessed images, none of the stacking, stretching and sharpening that would vastly improve the visual appearance.
