looking out for looking up:
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ARC: 12 th Annual Conference on the Adirondacks. Aileen O’Donoghue (SLU) Marc Staves Adirondack Public Observatory. Looking Out for Looking Up:. Preserving and Enhancing the Adirondack Night Skies. Wilderness. Definitions …. Wild. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Looking Out for Looking Up:
Preserving and Enhancing the Adirondack Night Skies
ARC: 12th Annual Conference on the Adirondacks
Aileen O’Donoghue (SLU)Marc Staves
Adirondack Public Observatory
Wilderness
Wild
Something characterized by bewildering vastness
Occurring, growing, or living in a natural state; not domesticated, cultivated, or
tamed
Something characterized by bewildering vastness
Definitions …
Outdoor Lighting Purpose
illuminate what we need to see playing fields, streets, sidewalks, pedestrians, pets, thugs, etc.
warn of dangersOutdoor lighting is not to protect us from the dark
But that’s what much of it tries to do …
Outdoor Lighting Lighting Assumptions
More light, brighter light is better and safer
Everyone wants more light lighting up my neighborhood is OK
Light always has a positive effect Darkness is unimportant
Lighting & Safety Studies No significant reduction in crime with
lighting (eg. US Dep’t of Justice cf. www.darksky.org/infoshts/is063.html)
“Dark Campus Policies” have reduced vandalism at some schools (http://www.darksky.org/infoshts/is054.html)
Lights help criminals see victims, goods
Lights in typically dark areas attract attention so crimes can be stopped
Light Pollution Glare
light that interferes with sight Light trespass
lighting others’ propertyEnergy Waste
illuminating undersides of airplanes Sky Glow
obscuring our view of the sky
Glare Eye brightness range of about 1 million …
Iris size adjusts to light levels Eye switches from cone to rod cells
rods more sensitive to low light … “averted vision.” rods adjust to light level … “dark adaption.”
Eye can discern details over 10:1 brightness variation in a single scene
Visibility limit ≈ brightest object
101
…and populated.
Glare Direct bright light that reduces the
eye’s ability to see dimly illuminated objects. Bright lights vs. pedestrians, animals
Light fixture easy to see!
Shadow VERY dark!
Park Street at Night: Glare
Direct light from acorn and drop-
down fixtures, and headlights very
bright.
Students seen as shadows against
glare
Street well lit!
Glare“If unshielded or poorly-aimed lights are in view of drivers, then the lights set the
upper brightness range - things 10 times less bright like potholes, trees or
pedestrians become featureless.”- Royal Astronomical Society of Canada
Glare is Deadly
East Hampton, NY
John Jiras, 71, killed while crossing street from movie
theater to parking lothttp://www.danspapers.com/paper/archive.html
Light TrespassHealthy, Safe, and Energy Efficient
Outdoor Lighting Act A7404 (Assembly), S4474 (Senate)
Retirement Home at night … and the neighbor's house
… placement of a light in “a manner whereby illumination or glare is cast unnecessarily on the property of another with the effect of reducing privacy, limiting use or enjoyment, hindering sleep and/or detracting from the appearance of the illuminated property …”
Light Trespass Harmful to
Human health, linked to circadian rhythms (sleep) disruption increased cancers damage to children’s eyesight
Wildlife nocturnal animals insects birds
Wildlife Effects Attraction, fixation & repulsion
baby turtles in Florida head toward highway instead of ocean
Disorientation birds fly into buildings, towers disoriented animals use extra energy
Disruption of biological rhythms Robins in UK singing at night disturbs egg-laying in moths
(http://www.darksky.org/infoshts/pdf/is187.pdf)
Wildlife Effects Research in
beginning stages“Even brief exposure
to bright light can cause some nocturnal
frogs to freeze for hours.”
Energy WasteEstimated energy usage & cost
Dark-to-Dawn lighting
Mercury Vapor
High Pressure Sodium
http://www.netacc.net/
~poulsen/lightcost.html
Sky Glow Adirondacks in darkest part of eastern
US A resource to be preserved and cherished!
Ottawa
Syracuse Albany
Watertown
Tupper Lake
Dark Sky Preserves“Healthy, Safe and Energy Efficient
Outdoor Lighting Act”
“… areas of the state which are especially suitable for astronomical observations and/or which provide, due to their darkness, nocturnal benefits to flora and fauna, or to citizens desiring views of unpolluted or relatively unpolluted night skies”
… sounds like Adirondack Park