Posted on 01/31/2011 9:15:12 PM PST by americanophile
Stargazers now have their Graceland. The Channel Island of Sark, located 80 miles south of England, has been designated as the world's first dark-sky island.
Dark-sky communities are places with very little to no light pollution. As a result, the stars are far easier to see and more fun to look at. According to a buzzy article from SPACE.com, Sark is just 4.5 square miles and has "no public street lighting, no paved roads, and no cars." In other words, save for the occasional flashlight or matchstick, there aren't a lot of things to interfere with the nighttime display, which includes "meteors streaking overhead and countless stars on display."
The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) makes the call on whether or not a community deserves to join their movement. And plenty would like to. The Burlington Free Press explains that dark-sky legislation "has been embraced by about 300 countries, cities, and towns." At first this might sound like something only nature enthusiasts would really care about, that's not so. The United States military is also getting behind the legislation. Too much light can interfere with drills at military bases.
And while they don't exactly get a say in the matter, it's worth noting that creatures big and small would likely also be in favor of more dark-sky rules. Again, according to the Burlington Free Press, there is evidence that "nighttime lights disturb animals and ecosystems."
(Excerpt) Read more at buzz.yahoo.com ...
“There are plenty of places, right here in the good ol’ USA, where there are “dark skies”.”
When much younger and in my “mountain woman” phase of life, I moved for a year up into the foothills above Boulder, CO. It was a small town (emphasis on word small) called Ward. I lived in a pretty log cabin w/my two dogs right on Boulder Creek. You had to walk across a wooden footbridge to get to my cabin. It was a wonderful place to live, and incredibly beautiful. At night when you went outside, the stars were like low hanging fruit. They were multitudinous, and so bright they sparkled like Swarovski crystals. If you reached your hands up you could almost touch them. There were a few times when the sky seemed to hang so low that it was almost oppressive, and I’d start to feel slightly claustrophobic.
I have always loved stargazing, and will fondly remember my year up there in the mountains for the magnificent light shows I was privileged to see. I wish everyone could have the same experience at least once in life.
The watermelons aren’t promoting “astronomy,” instead, they are promoting anything that tears down the West’s technology and order and finances.
This is why they promte random welded-together pieces of scrap metal as “art” when in reality it is merely junk that will be discarded with malice by future generations.
It is why they promote tearing down hydro-electric dams in the name of “fish” when the reality is that they want less power to be available to the West, and for power to cost the West more.
And yes, it is why they promote dark skies for “astronomy” when their real purpose is to increase crime and decrease the civilizing aspects of outdoor lighting in the West.
These ideas above, all of them, are specifically *not* promoted in non-Western nations.
Not in China. Not in Africa. Not in India.
They promote such ideas in the West solely to tear us down.
Shot this recently, using CLS filters...
M27 Planetely Nebula, about 1360 light years from earth. It's basically a star, where it's outer shell blew off....
M27 Taken 9/4/2010 19x135second ISO 800 Total exposure 42 minutes 45 seconds, 6.3focal reducer--Canon 40D
I guess this makes me a Communist and socialist ..
Further why should your paranoia that demands floodlighting your property be allowed to include floodlighting MY property?
Maybe we should call those lights you need, "INSECURITY" lights.
And I don't care for the amber lights either nor the anemic LED /solar road lights;much better would be white lights that simply shine on the sidewalks,lots or whatever and neither into the sky nor blind those who wish to enjoy a view of the sky from their property.
I travel a major highway lit from ONE side by blazing lamps angled about 45 degrees in a vain attempt to light 5 lanes ! They shine in one's eyes and over the neighboring hillside;I bet a fourth of their light actually falls on the road! But the old lights on both sides did a much better job.
What does Gramsci have to do with the subject matter here, I think is what people are having trouble with.
Let me rephrase my earlier comment: Where is “promote an expensive hobby that can only be enjoyed by citizens of an affluent, capitalist nation” on the list?
Answered in Post #42.
Nice!
While we’re on the subject of hobbies only available to decadent Capitalists, I have a question for you: How well to the batteries hold up in digital cameras like yours when taking astrophotos? Years ago, I remember looking for a 35mm SLR with a mirror hold-up lever to avoid draining the battery during long exposures.
All people are asking if that they use thoughtful common sense lighting fixtures, that direct the light down where it's needed, instead of up into the atmosphere.
These people here making this out to be some kind of Communist conspiracy, are freaking crazy.
Oh... Now I get it. Thailand.
do you have a link to “dark skies” being part of it?
Yes, the communists have said they’d like bad sculpture, but I don’t know that less bright skies are a communist plot.
It might be a conspiracy by the LED people to get people looking at bulbs that shoot 120 degrees, or much more directionally, instead of 360 degrees and having to rely on reflectors to keep the light out of the sky.
The Metal Hydride and HPS people were sitting around going - well, how about we call LEDs and energy efficient lights a communist plot? Sounds good.
The problem with living near L.A. is that in order to find dark skies, you wind up so far out into the desert that Vegas becomes a problem. I once thought that my camera had a light leak until I realized what direction the telescope had been pointed; SE toward Sin City.
lol...
Batteries don't last too long, due to shooting in bulb mode or long exposure mode. What I did is purchased a power supply that allows the camera to run off 110volt. It's the only way and saves a lot of problems.
I kinda thought that might be the case. I’ve never seen a digital SLR with a mirror hold-up.
This is what's left of a supernova...
Veil Nebula is an old supernova remnant in the constellation Cygnus. It is the remains of cataclysmic explosion of star that exploded between 5,000 and 8,000 years ago. This nebula is about 1,860 light-years distance.
16x150seconds, 10"SCT 6.3focal reducer, aligned, calibrated and stacked in DSS. CLS filter, and manual focus. No autoguide.
Go away nutcase!
If ya look at the scope, you can see my junk yard steel plates holding everything up...It's all mounted to junk yard 1/2" steel plate...lol
The battery 110v power supply cost me 50 bucks used.. But worth every penny...
The light pollution filters were pricey, but to do without them, imaging suffers.
What's sad, is all these millions of kids in America, few have ever seen the Milky Way, (An arm of our own galaxy) and more every year will start losing that sight and their night sky's, simply due to poorly designed lighting fixtures.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.