Dark Skies

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Dark Skies

by SeasideMan ^Pro @ 29/05/08 – 08:45:48

Where Helen and I used to live in the countryside in Mid-Wales, there were no street lights. We could see the odd light from a house across the valley, from the occasional car in the distance and a slight glow from our nearest town. But the night sky was mostly dark apart from the starlight and moonlight. If I go out at night now, there are streetlights and it is very different.

This video shows the awesome beauty that can be seen in the night sky, and shows why many people never get to see it any more:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfcbQHOJY-E&feature=related

Light Pollution is a growing problem and it’s more than just an aesthetic one. It’s fixed by having lights that shine downwards instead of all around and as well as fixing the Light Pollution problem, this also saves money. Since the light is focussed only where it is needed, less electricity is required and this has an environmental benefit too.

There is a UK organization for fighting Light Pollution and this is their website

http://www.lightpollution.org.uk/

I recommend a look at their website as there is much useful and interesting information on it.

This is perhaps the only sort of pollution that we actually can fix at the flick of a switch!

This blog is nothing at all to do with the rather good telly series Dark Skies. If you saw it, this will remind you of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LeQbOLYYdE

Cheers, Tom.
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Tags:
- beach
- light
- photography
- sea
- science
- pollution
- countryside
- fiction
- scifi
- light pollution

20 Comments on Dark Skies

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- jenray ^Pro
- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 29/05/08 @ 10:20:19
Oh, I couldn't agree more...there's nothing more thrilling than to look up into a night sky and see the zillions of stars shining out there in the firmament...now bloody invisible thanks to perishing night lighting...definitely something should be done about it...I think this lack is causing a lot of mental problems for people as well because they can't relate to the earth in the way the previous generations did when night was night and day was day....great big hugs...XX
- - SeasideMan ^Pro
  - 29/05/08 @ 12:20:23
  I think you're right, Jen. In my research on the subject, it seems to be the case that this contributes to insomnia in both humans and animals as well. It just can't be a good thing, can it?
  
  Cheers, Tom.
  - - jenray ^Pro
    - http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
    - 29/05/08 @ 13:03:02
    Our twenty four hour lifestyle has to be seriously detrimental to our overall well being...human beings weren't made to work at night...our body clocks are all out of sync when we do...and the lack of darkness must affect our feeling of being united with the universe...it's a bit like living in a well lit prison now, which is very sad for the people who do live in brightly lit areas all night...great big hugs..
    - - SeasideMan ^Pro
      - 29/05/08 @ 13:19:18
      Our bodies are very in sync. with the cycle of the sun. This is evident even without the sun. On one of the British Polar expeditions they monitored people's sleeping habits very closely during the completely dark winter when there was no daylight at all and people could get up and go to bed whenever they felt like it. Pretty much all of them fell into a rhythm of 8 hours in bed 16 hours up just as if the sun was there.
      
      I'm convinced that an absence of true darkness is bad for us. I wonder if the Polar expeditions have studied things during the perpetual sunlight of summer?
      
      Cheers, Tom.
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- loiswakeman
- http://lois.co.uk
- 29/05/08 @ 10:20:56
When we moved here in the mid-80s, we could see the Milky Way on most frosty nights, a glorious sight. But 25 years on, badly designed external lighting on neighbouring houses, lights on transmission towers, and the lighting of major roads on the skyline, has meant it's nowhere near as velvety dark, but a horrid orange glow disfigures the horizon. I mourn the clear view of the stars that my children had, any any future grandchildren will not.

Perhaps the need to use less electricity will mean we turn off more lights at night. I hope so.
- - SeasideMan ^Pro
  - 29/05/08 @ 12:18:35
  That's precisely it, and thanks for your story Lois. That seems to be the case all over, unfortunately. That hideous orange glow even extends onto the beach, pretty much all the way to the low tide point. If anything is going to get it changed, it'll be the cost factor.
  
  Cheers, Tom.
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- RacyTracy ^Pro
- 29/05/08 @ 23:09:31
Lovely view.
- - SeasideMan ^Pro
  - 29/05/08 @ 23:23:49
  Thankyou, Tracy. As is so often the case, the photograph is a poor substitute for the awesome beauty of nature.
  
  Cheers, Tom.
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- skip2468
- 29/05/08 @ 23:43:38
A very interesting topic. Thank you for the very helpful links.

Many a time living in a city, I have felt very angry about all the street lighting. If our societies were normal rather than grossly abnormal behaviour-wise, the problem would be much less.
- - SeasideMan ^Pro
  - 30/05/08 @ 00:01:33
  I agree with you, Skip. Our cities are lit up far more than is necessary at night and the cost is huge as well as the light pollution being a problem. A large part of the problem is indeed the 24-hour societies we live in now.
  
  Incidentally, you have the same name as one of my favourite guitarists: Skip James.
  
  Cheers, Tom.
  - - keepitsecret
    - 30/05/08 @ 00:22:01
    Yes our stupid politicians continue to favour the rowdy minority.
    
    I'll let you in on a secret. My online name merely comes from the fact that 'skip' has been my outdoor bowls grading for years.
    - - SeasideMan ^Pro
      - 30/05/08 @ 09:18:13
      Is that the same as "scratch" in golf? i.e. you are pretty good at it.
      
      Cheers, Tom.
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- deleted user (Visitor)
- 29/05/08 @ 23:53:30
Driving back down the M1 this week even in complete darkness you could instantly *sense" a city coming up by the light pollution on the horizon!!!
I did not travel on it this time but I know on the M62 motorway over the penines they fitted new "lamps"
When you drove down it it looked like a "curtain" of downward light onto the road not "bleeding" into the sky!!!!
This must have been thinking about it nearly 7 or 8 years ago so the technology IS THERE!!
It needs to be implemened!!!!!!!!
- - SeasideMan ^Pro
  - 30/05/08 @ 00:03:31
  I'm with you, SP. Not only do the lamps you describe fix the light pollution problem, but they are cheaper to run too!
  
  This country really annoys me sometimes.
  
  Cheers, Tom.
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- faffajane ^Pro
- http://faffajane.blog.co.uk/
- 31/05/08 @ 18:13:52
Beautiful picture, love the colours
- - SeasideMan ^Pro
  - 31/05/08 @ 19:30:01
  Thankyou. The black skies show the colours off rather well.
  
  Cheers, Tom.
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- deleted user (Visitor)
- 01/06/08 @ 22:13:27
I remember when we went on holiday somewhere near Cardigan, can't remember where, except it was completely in the middle of nowhere, no houses, no streetlights, no nothing for miles around. I was fascinated at night when I stood outside the whole of the sky seemed to come right down to the ground and looked like black velvet with glitter sprinkled all over it, it was so pretty and you didn't have to bend your head back to look up at the sky to see the stars they were just all around almost to the ground - beautiful.
- - SeasideMan ^Pro
  - 01/06/08 @ 22:15:36
  Yes, that's what I'm talking about! Lots of people will almost never see the sky like that.
  
  I only live on the coast of Cardigan Bay.
  
  Cheers, Tom.
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- Colin Henshaw (Visitor)
- 23/06/08 @ 06:55:49
The extinction of dark skies from most of the UK is certainly a tragedy, but what is worse, most people couldn't care less. In the main the public stereotype of those who value it is of nerds and eccentrics. The situation is made worse by an insensitive lighting industry that is out of control, and municipal lighting authorities that promulgate the urban myth that more and brighter lighting = greater safety and security. It is now well established this is not true. Lighting does not reduce crime, yet the myth is perpetuated in order to maximise profits.

Consequently we suffer from the twenty-four hour day with all its negative effects on human health. The environmental degradation that it causes is again well established and in the public domain.

I count myself lucky in having lived in rural Africa for many years and seen the night sky in all its glory. Not only was the Milky Way visible on a regular basis, but also lesser known phenomena like Zodiacal Light and Gegenschein that I have never seen from the UK. Most people will now go through their whole lives without ever seeing them, and this is a sad indictment on our society and lifestyle.

Time is long overdue for the world to wake up to the problem. I'm not against lighting, but it should be used sparingly, on a needs must basis, when needed, where needed, and in the correct amounts. The technology is available to rectify the problem, and has been for about twenty years. What is needed is the will by local and national government to implement legislation that will protect the environment from this scourge once and for all, and preserve the night sky for future generations.
- - SeasideMan ^Pro
  - 23/06/08 @ 10:05:23
  Thanks for your response, Colin. I agree with everything you said. I saw some stunning skies from the darkness of Mid-Wales, but I can see how the experience would be even more amazing from rural Africa. I'll have to go look up what Gegenschein is, because I've never even heard of it.
  
  Cheers, Tom.
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