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Photograph of Times Square by Jake Dobkin
Swedish artist Katja Aglert, using $21,000 from the Swedish government, is trying to convince owners of buildings and billboards, located from 41st to 51st Street between Broadway and Seventh Avenue, to simultaneously dim their lights for one minute. Her light pollution project would create a darkened corridor from which stargazers would be briefly afforded a better look at the stars.
Further north, amateur astronomer Jason Kendall is trying to get the Parks Department to darken Inwood’s Dyckman Fields on April 3rd and April 4th for two nights of stargazing in honor of the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first recorded use of a telescope. Kendall, who spends his weekends in the park coaxing passers-by to look through his telescope, tells the Times, "I was trying to see an ancient supernova remnant, but the street lights are too bright." Parks officials say they're considering his proposal, which would reveal hundreds of additional stars to the naked eye.
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I'm all about this. However a better long-term strategy (for park areas anyway) would be to introduce the type of shielded streetlights they use in Flagstaff, AZ to eliminate exactly this type of light pollution. But really, visibility will always suck compared to suburban areas.
The lights in Flag are probably mostly because Lowell Observatory is there, but yeah, I would be all about it!
this would never work, nyc has laws that forces landlords to turn on lights at night.
Jason Kendall here...
Actually, the Parks people are working hard on it now. There are a few proposals for funding and to the Park Rangers. Where I am planning to do the Lights Out for the 100 Hours of Astronomy is a place which has no adjacent businesses or residences. This is a great opportunity, and the Parks people are trying to raise funds to pay for security.
Please visit http://www.inwoodastronomy.org to learn more, or to give me a hand. We need volunteers for the event.
Also, I am out in the Park every Wednesday and Saturday night when it is clear. We had a good group when Comet Lulin was near Saturn, and the skies await.
I hope you can join us.
Jason Kendall
...But what if we turned off the lights only to find that the stars aren't up there anymore? Do we get our money back?
I'm very happy to see this--and, eventually, more stars.
Did anyone else read the New Yorker article a few months back on light pollution? There's just no reason for everything to be so brightly lit at night. It doesn't work as well as a crime deterrent as one would think. One of the examples given was that a robber with a flashlight is going to be more obvious in darkness than if he were bathed in light. Can't recall how the statistics on that worked out, but it makes sense on paper.
lucyvanpelt,
Yes, in my sidewalk astronomy sessions, I am able to find places directly under streetlights in the park where I can hide in plain view. I can be hidden just by the contrast of the light and shadow, due to the glare of the streetlamps. When I do this demo, it tends to scare people, because if I can do it, then muggers can too. The parks are actually less safe with glare-bomb lighting than if the light is directed downward. It also costs less to direct the light downward. You can use lower wattage bulbs and actually get better results.
Keep Looking up!
Jason Kendall
http://www.inwoodastronomy.org">http://www.inwoodastronomy.org">http://www.inwoodastronomy.org
I like the concept but ultimately if you want to get a good look at stars its easier to just leave the city than get everyone to agree to turn their lights off at the same time.
Of course there are a lot of lights in that corridor, but they make up a tiny fraction of the hundreds of millions of bulbs that cover the rest of the metropolis. Even if you're standing in a completely unlit park in eastern Queens, the view of the sky is only marginally better than that in Midtown.
This is one drawback about living near a major city. You can't have all your marbles and eat them. If you want to see stars go out to eastern long island and up the hudson valley.
I like the idea of the first project, but one minute wouldn't be enough to do much of anything. The eye needs several minutes, at least, to adjust to a new light level. If they dimmed their signs for ten or fifteen minutes, that would have a visible effect, but otherwise the plan wouldn't change what we see.
We need more darkness. The biological effects of 24/7 exposure to light are only beginning to be known, and the news so far isn't good. It's the law of unintended consequences. Ford gave us lots of pollution and congestion. Bell gave us cell phone yakkers who can't shut up in public. And Edison is giving us disrupted endocrine and circadian cycles.
I, for one, like to able to see where I'm walking at night, and most of the sidewalks in this city aren't bright enough as it is. Sure, they can adjust it so less light points skyward. But come one, this is the City That Never Sleeps. Even as an environmentalist, knowing how much power Times Square consumes, I still think the world is better with a Times Square that is illuminated at night that a world without it. Stargazing, like most nature-oriented pursuits is best done in nature, not in a city. Don't try to make cities something they're not.
You have no idea what you're talking about. More light is not the solution. Humans have decent night vision. Ask any hunter if he's blind while out hunting at night with no lights. Not as great as nocturnal animals like cats and owls, but quite passable. The only reason we can't use it is because we destroy it with artificial lighting. It doesn't take long for a bright light to bleach the rhodopsin in one's retinas. It takes a long time for the rhodopsin to regenerate.
An analogy would be salt. People swear they need lots of it for good flavor in their food. They're just conditioned to salt, just like you're conditioned to light. People need only a fraction of the salt they eat on a daily basis, likewise a fraction of the light is all people really need to see at night. Are you aware that the disruption of biological cycles brought on by light throughout nightime has been implicated as a contributing cause to certain cancers? Life on Earth did not evolve to live in light 24/7. We need nighttime as much as we need daylight.
I commend your work, Jason Kendall. The Parks are the perfect setting for this and, if you're successful, maybe the hours can be extended. Good man.
Thanks, r1b2. I put some sample letters on my website if you want to write to Elected Official X asking them to support the project. My sample letter is here, along with all the relevant addresses for the officials. Printing one out and popping it in the mail would be a big help.
http://www.moonbeam.net/InwoodAstronomy/events-100hours.shtml
Jason
Light pollution is far more common and more annoying than most people might think. After today's bit of fun, a friend at work told me his neighbor has a streetlamp on the side of his house that trespassese into his home at night. He was forced to draw the blinds or else he couldn't even watch the TV, it was so bright.
Light trespass is a major neighborhood problem, and more people than you might think live next to a bad neighbor who just puts up some really glaring light for security. But the light is so bright that everyone then shuts ther doors and windows and shades. So. The question then is if EVERYONE has there crazy lights because they want to deter crime, but if I was a criminal, I could walk right up to the house and do what I want because no one is watching.
It is not just that guy that looks like Christian Slater with Samuel Jackson next door who have neighbor issues with light, it is getting to be most people in suburban areas.
I bet you know someone who always experiences light trespass.....
IT IS A GO! The New York City Parks is going for it! We have our date, on the 3rd! I do hope you can join me and all of our Astronomy friends as we take in the sky Gotham-style!
http://www.moonbeam.net/InwoodAstronomy/events-100hours.shtml