How bad is light pollution getting for astronomers these days? i can't even see the stars any more from home.

Question

It must be getting harder and harder for astronomers to see anything with all the light pollution around.

Answer 1

It all depends on the location of the astronomer. Large telescopes are usually placed in secluded areas away from large cities. Plus they have Hubble, no light pollution at all in space. But for those of us using backyard telescopes, like me in NYC, it pretty much sux.

Answer 2

Flagstaff is funny. They are low light yet they still have horrible light pollution. It's true that the sky outside of town is pretty clear but that is largely because they are so high up that there is little atmosphere to scatter the light. I'm an astronomy student and was very depressed when I lived there because I had to go so far out of my way to see the Milky Way.

I grew up on an island in Washington State which, despite being surrounded by cities on the mainland is pretty dark itself so I could almost always see the Milky Way when it was clear.

Light pollution is a problem for professional astronomers, they are able to build telescopes above most atmospheric interference on mountains and plateaus, but as cities expand they are running out of room to do research in visible light. City light luckily doesn't interfere with other types of astronomy (although other things can). I believe Mauna Kea observatory on the island of Hawaii is considered the best visual light observatory in the world, of course it is on a peak 13,796 ft tall. (Lowell observatory in Flagstaff which is used very little for research these days sits at about 7,000 feet as I recall).

Answer 3

I live in Flagstaff AZ, which is an international dark sky city, we have cowled, low pressure sodium, streetlights. Most nights the moon creates more light pollution than the city does. When I'm out of the city on new moon nights, I cant even see my hand in front of my face because it's so dark.

Light pollution can be avoided if you leave metropolitan areas. That's what most astronomers do.

Answer 4

Yep. While Arizona (Tucson in particular) has strict light pollution laws, the cities are still expanding (Kitt Peak can see Tucson). In addition, there are telescopes up in the hills around LA - Palomar and Mt Wilson. They are constantly losing light - most recently to a church that erected a huge cross made of high-powered light bulbs that violates in LA's light pollution laws (such as they are).

Answer 5

The sky is useless for viewing anything but the moon and planets around any meyro area. People who light malls and streets don't realize they only need to light the ground and not the sky. Even some professional locations are greatly hindered.

Answer 6

It's pretty bad, though full cutoff lighting is much more common for street lighting in the UK these days. The Campaign For Dark Skies has had some noteable successes, and maybe things will get better as people become more energy concious.

Answer 7

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Answer 8

light pollution would only affect amateur astronomers because professional astronomers have observatories, and it is still easy for amateurs to overcome it: get out of the city.

Answer 9

Astronomers doesnt worry of the light pollution.
they have "radio active CPI 60000 volts of electricity"