Night Sky Friendly Lighting

A light dusting of Colorado powder had fallen earlier in the day and now a big storm was traveling across the four corners, heading for Denver. This one promised to deliver over two feet of dense, heavy, late-winter snow.   But not yet.  Tonight, the skies are clear as I tend to my telescope, hoping to capture a few more photons from M106, a beautiful galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici, the hunting dogs.  It’s a mild, windless night.  Literally, the calm before the storm.   Without thinking, I lie down on my deck and look up.  To the west, the sky is deep and dark. Betelgeuse emits a warm red glow, Sirius a brilliant silver-blue.  The twins, Pollux and Castor, are almost directly overhead.  To the east, the view is vastly different.  Near the horizon, the sky glows the color of amber, fading to milky white as it rises overhead.  The light from Arcturus, the brightest star in the northern hemisphere makes it through, but the others are lost in the veil of light over Denver. 

This is reality for much of the United States and the rest of the world.  This global problem is fully captured in the patch of sky that sits over my house.  To the west is the sky of the past.  Not the sky of our ancestors, bathed in the light of their campfires and oil lamps, but the sky that I remember back in the 1960s and 1970s.  To the east is the night sky of the present, inundated and degraded by stray light spilling from countless streets, billboards, parking lots, and porches.  Above my house, the harsh glare of civilization devours the sky of my youth.

How do we stop this assault and prevent the destruction of this magnificent resource?  How do we protect the dark in which all species on earth have evolved and on which humans and wildlife depend? This section will include a series of posts, based on the five principles for responsible outdoor lighting, exploring the easy, straightforward actions that we can take to minimize the effects of light pollution.   Reducing light pollution isn’t difficult and it isn’t expensive.  It doesn’t require advanced technology or complicated equipment.  All it takes is a little understanding and a desire to protect the stars. With a little foresight and planning we can protect people and wildlife that depend on naturally dark conditions for their health and well-being.  Watch this space and my social media accounts for announcements as each installment drops.

Clear Skies!! 

3/12/2021