Originally published at: Light pollution map of the world | Boing Boing
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I posted a backyard shot before and during a blackout in this to show what wonderment our children have lost in the world we have created, The video is pretty great, too!
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Who has the best light pollution?
Exact, ons hebben de beste lichtvervuiling
(Exactly, us have the best light forfouling)
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The coloring and string-of-pearls effects remind me strongly of the Mandelbrot set. I was disappointed to find that there is no finer-scale structure when you zoom in.
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This is a us and against them thing in the High Desert. The newbies coming in from the LA basin are bringing their collective fear of the dark with them, the security lighting is on steroids for McMansions & McRanches.
Consequently, some have taken into their own hands to eliminating the light source by sabotaging the real “bright as the sun” offending parties. I sleep better at night without a light shinning in my face, you probably do to.
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We’ve got some new “security minded” neighbors here in NM and I’m torn between using a case of beer and a gift cert to Lowes for new lights or just a pellet gun.
But damn, lighting up my yard and our sky isn’t making you safer…
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Interesting to see the oil rigs in the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, but what’s going on offshore of South Korea? Fishing boats?
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Yep, someone in the area is doing just that. The folks that bought the McRanch near us are phobic to the point of recently purchasing a trained German Shepard, cost some cheddar I’d say. This is so unnecessary. But there you have it, unfamiliar surrounding brings out the bad human from people that have been city bound their whole lives.
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I’d offer that there may be a reason the other city-folk kicked them out.
Anyway, post needs this link:
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Squid-fishing boats. They use massively bright lights to attract the squids. And from the air, they look like implausibly located cities.
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Ah, interesting. Thanks
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Why are the oil fields in North Dakota so well lit in particular?
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I have been using https://www.cleardarksky.com/ which has a few other features. Besides their light pollution map they also provide a Clear Sky Chart to help you pick a date where a location will have clear dark skies. I have found their Limiting Magnitude Calculator to be less useful though.
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And camping. I was taught to shine my flashlight on the ground when I was a child. These days, everyone is wears a bright LED head lamp that can’t be adjusted to shine downwards. Bam!! Right in the eyes from 40 ft away.
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I miss my hometown because it didn’t take much to just drive an hour and be able to see the galactic swell by eyesight. Up here in Minneapolis MN it’s really hard to avoid the light pollution of the cities and the suburbs. It’s just so bad here.
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if all you people on the eastern half of the country could just dial it down a bit, that would be great, thanks.
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Flareing (sp?) of gas that the companies done want?
They’re doing the lighting wrong. Properly shielded lighting provides even illumination without the deep shadows that unshielded security flood-lights cause. The deep shadows that people can hide in and glare from light going straight into the eyes preventing identification of people out in the open anyway. Ne’er-do-wells like to see what they’re doing as much as anyone else. A torch light bobbing around a dark site is much more helpful to indicate suspicious activity than amateur attempts at high-security prison lighting cosplay that is just a painful ball of glare. They’re just wasting their money lighting up the sky.
An armchair amateur astronomer
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I’m thinking that the video Lost in Light is kinda confusing, however highlights (pun intended) some issues that need clarification when discussing light pollution.
As the video progresses there is less and less light directed at the camera, artificial city lights give way to sunsets to no sunlight and a also no shots with moonlight which would also create a need for a higher dynamic range in brightness contrast that would distort the cameras ability to make the stars seem as bright.
Also the aesthetic decision to vignette (darken the perimeter of the frame) in post artificially brightens the inner areas of the frame. Even though the human eye has a vastly higher brightness dynamic range than a camera sensor it still will take the highest value available and adjust the darkest value accordingly.
The bright light in the ‘before’ image flaring out in a circular manner from the lower right is a good example of the limitations of both a camera’s representation as well as the eye’s peception.
The other issue that needs clarification beyond locally received radiating light would be the dispersion of light in the atmosphere given the amount of particulate present both natural and/or human made. Human air pollution adds to light pollution so visually documenting a progression from a city context to a pristine natural environment with all the obvious post color correction etc. is at best an artistic representation that’s ‘kinda in the ball park’ of something that is way more complex.
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