[SustainableTompkins] Article on light pollution

[Kathy Luz Herrera]

Hi all,

I took an astronomy class last semester, and 
learned a little more about light pollution. A 
current article in the New Yorker calls attention 
to what we've lost. Light pollution is relevant 
to our conservation efforts, too, so I hope you can check out this link:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/08/20/070820fa_fact_owen?currentPage=1


>>Quote from an astronomy list that I'm on:
>>In the August 20, 2007 New Yorker there is a fantastic article that sums up
>>the whole issue of the loss of the night sky and why some of us (and not
>>just astro-nerds like myself) have serious concerns about the onslaught of
>>excessive, misdirected and wasteful outdoor lighting.
>>
>>The photo of the Milky Way in the dark skies over NM alone is worth the
>>mouse click.
>>
>>"The Dark Side: Making War on Light Pollution" by David Owen
>>
>>"In 1610, Galileo Galilei published a small book describing astronomical
>>observations that he had made of the skies above Padua. His homemade
>>telescopes had less magnifying and resolving power than most beginners¹
>>telescopes sold today, yet with them he made astonishing discoveries: that
>>the moon has mountains and other topographical features; that Jupiter is
>>orbited by satellites, which he called planets; and that the Milky Way is
>>made up of individual stars. It may seem strange that this last observation
>>could have surprised anyone, but in Galileo¹s time people assumed that the
>>Milky Way must be some kind of continuous substance. It truly resembled a
>>streak of spilled liquid‹our word 'galaxy' comes from the Greek for milk‹and
>>it was so bright that it cast shadows on the ground (as did Jupiter and
>>Venus). Today, by contrast, most Americans are unable to see the Milky Way
>>in the sky above the place where they live, and those who can see it are
>>sometimes baffled by its name.
>>
>>The stars have not become dimmer; rather, the Earth has become vastly
>>brighter, so that celestial objects are harder to see. Air pollution has
>>made the atmosphere less transparent and more reflective, and high levels of
>>terrestrial illumination have washed out the stars overhead--a phenomenon
>>called 'sky glow.' Anyone who has flown across the country on a clear night
>>has seen the landscape ablaze with artificial lights, especially in urban
>>areas. Today, a person standing on the observation deck of the Empire State
>>Building on a cloudless night would be unable to discern much more than the
>>moon, the brighter planets, and a handful of very bright stars‹less than one
>>per cent of what Galileo would have been able to see without a telescope."
>>
>>Much more:
>>
>>http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/08/20/070820fa_fact_owen?currentPage=1