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Light Pollution

If you live in a city, chances are you suffer from it. But if you're not an astronomer, you may never have thought twice about it.

Posted by Tormod Guldvog
04 June, 2002 07:06:29

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Light pollution is caused by electrical lighting, both outdoors and indoors. Street lamps, billboards, building lights and other sources of light is an incredible waste of energy. Estimates show that billions of dollars are wasted as energy is pouring into space.

But a more pressing problem is the fact that light pollution is making it difficult for astronomers to view the night sky. In most major cities, the problem is so big that children grow up without ever seeing more than the brightest stars and closest planets.

Light pollution is a source of stress and can cause serious health problems as well.

In this hypography special we take a closer look at the problem, and explore ways in which it can be solved.

Related Links

The New England Light Pollution Advisory Group
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/cfa/ps/nelpag.html
The NELPAG is a volunteer group dedicated to educating the public about the problems of light pollution, and how to combat it.

International Dark-Sky Association
http://www.darksky.org/
The IDA is a non-profit, volunteer organization working to combat light pollution and preserve the dark skies.

It's not just an astronomer's problem
http://www.utahskies.org/lightpollution/NotJustAnAstronomyProblem.html
This is a brief text explaining various aspects of light pollution.

Satellite Image of Earth by Night
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0011/earthlights2_dmsp_big.jpg
This is a photograph compiled by NASA, showing the lights of the entire Earth at night.

The Night Sky in the World
http://www.lightpollution.it/dmsp/
This page offers useful satellite imagery of the Earth, and has lots of information about the problems of light pollution.

Go Light on the Pollution
http://userpages.umbc.edu/~fmorga1/lp/en/
This is a personal page presenting the problems of light pollution. It also offers a glossary of terms and a link collection. There is even a Spanish version available.

Light Pollution Images
http://www.darksky.org/ida/images/images.html
This is an image collection at the home pages of darksky.org, including nightscapes and satellite imagery.

The Problem of Light Pollution
http://www.skymaps.com/articles/n0109.html
This is an article in Skymaps.com about light pollution, with some related links.

Light Pollution Information For Texans
http://www.limber.org/ida/
If you live in Texas, you should check out this site. Lots of politics and pressure-group material.

Light Pollution Programme
http://www.eplioan.gr/LP/lp.htm
This is a web site presented by University of Ioannina and the Greek Ministry of Education and Religion, presenting a project which lasted from 1997-1999. It has lots of information about light pollution.

IAU Commission working group on Light Pollution
http://www.ctio.noao.edu/light_pollution/iau50/
This web site has lots of information about light pollution, including web links and background resources.

Light Pollution Fact Sheet
http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org/light.htm
The Prairie Astronomy Club has put together this fact sheet about light pollution, including types of lamps, glare problems etc.

National Dark Sky Night
http://www.geocities.com/Astronomer107/NDSN.html
This is the home page of the National Dark Sky Night, an initiative to turn off outdoors lighting in order to get a better view of the skies and fight light pollution.