Astronomy.com blog : light pollution

In Texas: A funded plan will keep one area dark for astronomy

Michael Bakich — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:25:00 GMT

On September 15, the City of Alpine, Texas, approved a proclamation that designated October as “Dark Sky Month.” This announcement came as citizens worked towards having Alpine recognized by the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) under its Dark Sky Community designation.   Gil Bartee, vice president of development for Sierra la Rana, a development near Alpine, said, “Our plan is to use the James T. Walker Dark Sky Fund to retrofit existing non-dark-sky-friendly lighting with dark-sky-friendly lighting.”

Bartee said his group has selected a local church and a building supply company as its first retrofit locations. “We will work with the owners of these locations to change out the existing lighting with dark-sky-friendly fixtures and have the retrofit publicized in the local news media,” he said.
 During October, the group plans to finalize its work on a new Lighting Ordinance for Alpine.

Bartee added, “We have scheduled an Alpine Star Party for October 16 and 17 at Sierra la Rana and October 18 at the Luz de Estrella Winery in neighboring Marfa.”  

Related podcast: Bob Gent of the International Dark-Sky Association explains what you can do to save the night sky.

Send us your astronomy questions

Liz Kruesi — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 21:05:00 GMT

Perplexed by planets? Confused by cosmology? Baffled by black holes? Then send in your questions to Astronomy magazine at askastro@astronomy.com.

If you have an astronomy question about observing, the planets, stars, cosmology, or astronomy history, send it in! Five are selected each month for publication in the Ask Astro section of Astronomy magazine. If your question is selected, we will forward it to an expert for his or her response. Then, the question and answer will appear together in a future issue. We may edit or revise your question for clarity.

We aren’t always able to respond to questions individually. But please keep the questions coming — they help us to learn what our readers are interested in, and what topics we should consider for future coverage in the magazine.

This is serious community astronomy

Michael Bakich — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:28:00 GMT

“Now therefore, we, the Board of Trustees and its President, do hereby proclaim the dark sky over the village of Barrington Hills a fitting attribute for the celebration of the International Year of Astronomy in 2009.”

So states the proclamation dated December 15, 2008, and originating from Village Hall, Barrington Hills, Illinois. Just before the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) began, the village’s board of trustees took up the cause against light pollution. In so doing, they pledged to conserve energy, reduce glare, maintain desirable community character, safeguard wildlife in its natural environment, and restore the view of the starry sky.

In an interview with the Barrington Courier-Review, Village Administrator Bob Kosin said the village will look into legislation to preserve the “celestial landscape” by limiting artificial light and using lights in more effective and energy-efficient ways.

“It’s not like the Milky Way is going away or the Moon is going away; they’re just becoming more obscured,” he said in the same interview. Sarah Kenney, planning and zoning coordinator, added, “One of the village’s missions is to preserve the environment, and the sky is part of that.”

In a letter dated December 23, 2008, and addressed to Robert G. Abboud, president of the Barrington Hills board of trustees, Illinois Governor (then Lieutenant Governor) Pat Quinn commended the board for its work in minimizing outdoor light pollution. In so doing, he said that Barrington Hills had distinguished itself as a role model for communities across Illinois.

IYA2009 celebrates the 400th anniversary of Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei pointing a telescope skyward. Astronomy magazine’s May 2009 issue was a special collector’s edition honoring Galileo, the history of the telescope, the telescope’s greatest discoveries, and great current telescopes for observers. For more information about IYA2009, visit www.astronomy2009.org.

How many stars can you see?

Michael Bakich — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:17:00 GMT

Those of you who know me or have read some of my stories realize I’m kind of a crusader against light pollution. I’ll take any opportunity to rail against it or to let you know of a worthwhile project that will help decrease it. Well, I’ve found another one.

For the past several years, a project to determine the darkness of our night sky has been underway, and you can help. The Globe at Night project invites people from all over the world to go outside an hour after sunset and compare a set of maps to your view of the constellation Orion the Hunter.

Globe at Night provides eight magnitude maps. The first shows a cloudy sky; the last shows a view of Orion you’ll see only from the darkest locations.

To learn more about Globe at Night, go to their web site. You’ll find all sorts of cool applications that show the effect light pollution has on our views of the stars. Be sure to click on “Map,” and then click on the topmost map, which shows the results from all observations made in 2008.

I hope you’ll all take a few minutes in 2009 to participate in this worthy project. It’s great that we’re cleaning up our air and water. Let’s clean up our sky as well.