The light pollution thread

[Soheil_Esy]

2015 April 13 - 18 - International Dark Sky Week

International Dark Sky Week is held during the week of the new moon in April. It is a week during which people worldwide turn out their outdoor lights in order to observe the wonders of the night sky without light pollution. It has been endorsed by the International Dark-Sky Association.


International Dark Sky Week 2015 - Light Pollution Matters

Less than 100 years ago, everyone could look up at a spectacular starry night sky. Now, millions of children across the globe will never experience the Milky Way where they live.

Light pollution not only impairs our view of the Universe, it hurts the planet by increasing energy consumption, wasting money and harming the health and safety of humans and wildlife.

What is Light Pollution?

Light pollution is excessive or inappropriate outdoor lighting. Common forms of light pollution include:

• Glare – excessive brightness that causes visual discomfort
• Sky glow – brightening of the night sky over inhabited areas
• Light trespass – light falling where it is not intended or needed
• Clutter – bright, confusing and excessive groupings of light sources

http://darksky.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Light_Pollution_Diagram_680px.jpg

How Bad is Light Pollution Near You?

Check out the Globe at Night interactive light pollution map

http://www.blue-marble.de/nightlights/2014

http://www.darksky.org/light-pollution-topics/light-pollution-matters

Possibly one of the best preserved night sky

30 Jan. 2014) --- Flying over East Asia, an Expedition 38 crew member on the International Space Station took this night image of the Korean Peninsula. Unlike daylight images, city lights at night illustrate dramatically the relative economic importance of cities, as gauged by relative size. In this north-looking view, it is immediately obvious that greater Seoul is a major city and that the port of Gunsan is minor by comparison. There are 25.6 million people in the Seoul metropolitan area-more than half of South Korea's citizens-while Gunsan's population is 280,000. North Korea is almost completely dark compared to neighboring South Korea and China. The darkened land appears as if it were a patch of water joining the Yellow Sea to the Sea of Japan. The capital city, Pyongyang, appears like a small island, despite a population of 3.26 million (as of 2008). The light emission from Pyongyang is equivalent to the smaller towns in South Korea. Coastlines are often very apparent in night imagery, as shown by South Korea's eastern shoreline. But the coast of North Korea is difficult to detect. These differences are illustrated in per capita power consumption in the two countries, with South Korea at 10,162 kilowatt hours and North Korea at 739 kilowatt hours.

 

[TachyonDriver]

If crime and pedestrian safety weren't such an issue in modern society, we could dispense with a lot of street lighting.

 

[Pipcard]

Why I never became an astronomer:
- I wouldn't bother going to a dark place in the middle of nowhere
- Clouds

(Also, I think there is little-to-no benefit if most people have no electricity available, especially for a place such as North Korea)

 

[Kyle]

Heh. I'm utterly obsessed with amateur astronomy and astrophotography. If I had the funds I'd drop everything I'm doing right now and fly out to New Mexico, live in a tent for a few weeks, just to take some shots of the Milky Way.

 

[Soheil_Esy]

Part 2

Caught red-handed

Light Pillars - Light Map In The Sky

http://0e33611cb8e6da737d5c-e13b5a9...a---Mia-HeikkilAc-2016-muok_1452770313_lg.jpg
Taken by Mia Heikkilä on January 12, 2016 @ Kauttua, Eura, Finland

http://0e33611cb8e6da737d5c-e13b5a9...Ac---MML-kartta-1-2016_1452770313_fpthumb.jpg

Details:

Light pillars were visible in the sky, then more images appeared above. In the Taivaanvahti -site (http://www.taivaanvahti.fi) people gave hints to look if the pattern matches to local map. And there it was! Exact reversed light map of Kauttua, Eura on the sky. Now I call it #LuxEura.

http://spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=121829

 

[Soheil_Esy]

More sources of light pollution

Lasers to project movie onto clouds

July 06, 2015

https://img.rt.com/files/news/42/6a/90/00/rider.jpg


A green ghost rider appeared in the sky over the British city of Nottingham when scientists started testing a newly developed projecting device which allows the beaming of moving images directly onto clouds for the first time ever.

The image of a galloping horse rider was projected onto the clouds from a distance of 50 meters by a special laser-based projection system mounted on an aircraft.

The system beaming the images into the clouds was invented by a research team, calling itself Project Nimbus. It is composed of a designer, Dave Lynch, and a chemist, Dr Mike Nix, from the University of Leeds, who ultimately want to be able to beam the movies onto the clouds from the ground.

The video of the galloping horse-rider is a result of a five year long research project.

“Project Nimbus is the exploration of digital and analogue techniques to project moving images onto clouds from the ground, sea level and aircraft including planes, paragliders and hot air balloons,” the researchers explain on their website.

The application range of the new device is not restricted only to louds, as “the project aims to deliver multiple projection installations also onto cooling towers, steam trains and urban vents,” the Project Nimbus team claims.

The idea of such a device originally came to Dave Lynch as he was doing his master’s degree. During his studies he stumbled upon a military paper on the war in Vietnam, describing sky projections that were used as a psychological weapon against the Vietnamese.

Inspired by the idea, Lynch started his own experiments in 2007. However, they were unsuccessful because of the lack of the necessary equipment.

In 2012, he returned to experimenting after he received funding from the AND festival and the arts incubator Octopus Collective, New Scientist reports.

The working principle of the Lynch’s device is based on a zoopraxiscope – a creation of a 19th-century photographer Eadweard Muybridge, which is thought to be a kind of the world’s first movie projector.

The device developed by Muybridge projected a series of pictures from glass discs having images of a galloping horse on them. The modern researchers decided to also use the image of a moving horse for their experiments, as a tribute to the Muybridge’s creation.

“The experimental projection devices fuse old and new methods developed from ubiquitous technology,” the project authors say.

The original principle of the zoopraxiscope would not work for projecting images onto the clouds, so the team decided to use a laser.

As a result, the Project Nimbus device uses 2.5W 532nm laser as a light source with hemispherical lenses transforming the laser beam and creating the shape of the image.

The researchers presented the findings of their study at Leeds City Museum on Saturday, July 4.

Referring to the future of the project, Dave Lynch expressed hope “to collaborate with someone like flight pioneer Richard Branson to develop a digital art piece which allows us to interact and experience the world through cloud projections,” as he told the New Scientist.

http://rt.com/news/272041-movie-clouds-laser-project/

Video

 

[Urwumpe]

I remember that in my childhood, I was able to see the Milkyway here... today I am already happy that Venus is visible despite the huge amount of light pollution by this wanna-be-Las-Vegas a few kilometers north. A bit of moisture in the air and the city is just hidden under a shield of light.

But the good news... they plan to disable the street lights here around the Planetarium for establishing a stargazing spot in the city.... well, I still think its rather a good joke.

 

[steph]

I'm still disappointed about not seeing the 20th March auroras. Thing is, after it got dark, I just went full automatic and went to my usual spot for anything night-photography related, which is on a bridge a few miles out. Trouble is, that spot has a town close to the north. Of course, I didn't bother to factor in that light pollution was way less at my house, at the northern edge of a village, and with said town about 5 miles to the NE.

Frustratingly, I might have been able to at least do a long exposure with it literally from the front of my house, but nooo...I had to do some distance to get close to some more light-polluted spot. :facepalm:

At least with the LED streetlights, you don't get your long exposures flooded by that yellowish light that sodium lamps are so well known for. Not that it was a totally bad thing, it was quite ok for distant views of the city and autumn-ish photos, but if you tried an exposure longer than a few seconds on a regular street, it ended up being mostly yellow.

 

[Soheil_Esy]

I'm still disappointed about not seeing the 20th March auroras...

Good site to find the best places near you to see a clearer view of the stars

13 October 2015

• http://darksitefinder.com/maps/world.html
  
• http://www.lightpollutionmap.info
  
• http://www.lichtverschmutzung.de/seiten/karten.php

2012 VIIRS-Aufnahme von Mitteleuropa

https://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/3odwwy/how_far_do_i_have_to_get_from_a_town_to_see_what/

Atmospheric light pollution in Europe prediction for 2025

http://ipic.su/img/img7/fs/LightpollutionEurope2025.1452959100.jpg
http://physics.ipm.ac.ir/conferences/16thspring/pdf/arbabi.pdf

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/...W6Gpmib_3UFnaOVfxMKtLBt0qhumH73HAOhw0hVZ4MgVA
http://www.lightpollution.it/cinzano/download/9905340.pdf

 

[N_Molson]

North of Italy and Belgium/Nederlands are quite impressive.

 

[fort]

Good site to find the best places near you to see a clearer view of the stars

Hello,

Incidentally.

I knew some resources on this subject, that I started to use to make accurate night lights in orbiter, currently paused, but these will be valuable to me for the future.

Thank you and good day.

 

[jroly]

I was thinking of buying a telescope because I am very interested in the night sky, but there is too much light pollution where I live (Sydney). I just use Stellarium to see what is happening. I did join the local astronomy internet forum, hopefully meet someone when I decide to go on a camping trip and if possible borrow a Dobson from someone.

I keep checking ebay from time to time to see if there is a good secondhand going cheap, they generally go for about 1/2 retail.

I had my eye on this one but was out bid.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Celestron-AstroMaster-130-telescope-/281802296589?

Currently have my eye on this one but not sure yet.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Dobsonian-Telescope-8-inch-mirror-/272010770510?

 

[Urwumpe]

BTW, near Berlin is a natural reserve, which is really the darkest place in Germany, and for some time now officially bears the name "Sternenpark" (star park) after being declared an international dark sky reserve by the IDA. You can even observe the natural air glow of Earth there, which is really weak.

You can find it here:

http://darksky.org/idsp/reserves/westhavelland/

 

[Soheil_Esy]

First Use of ISS Astronaut Pictures for Light Pollution Studies

11 August 2015

Scientists are tapping into photographs taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to reliably measure the amount of light pollution worldwide. This study not only includes the well-known signatures of cities and streets, but also the effects of faint indirectly scattered light, which up to now had not been measured quantitatively. The new results confirm that this diffuse glow, which is seen from space, is scattered light from streetlights and buildings. This is the component responsible for the brightening of the night skies in and around cities, which drastically limits the visibility of faint stars and the Milky Way. The team also concludes that European countries and cities with a higher public debt also have higher energy consumption for street lighting per inhabitant, and that the total cost of the energy consumption for street lights is 6300 million euros/year in the European Union. The findings were presented today at the IAU XXIX General Assembly in Honolulu, Hawaii.

In a remarkable new study, scientists from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain and the Cégep de Sherbrooke in Canada, together with members of the public, have worked on a project called Cities at Night. The aim is to produce a global colour map of the Earth [1] at night from pictures taken by astronauts on the International Space Station using a standard digital camera.

Starting in July 2014, this huge project required the cataloging of over 130 000 images — the ISS’s entire high-resolution archive — and geo-referencing them to place them on a map. The images were also calibrated using the stars in the background sky over the ISS, as well as ground-based measurements of the night sky brightness [2].

Previously, light pollution measurements had to be done in situ and would contribute only a single measurement to the light pollution map. This new method, connecting space-based measurements of light pollution with ground-based night sky brightness measurements, makes it possible, for the first time, to map light pollution reliably over extended areas.

A diffuse light present around cities, in addition to the familiar bright lights from streets and factories, was previously detected by the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program, but its nature remained unknown; the satellite’s low-resolution cameras could not distinguish it from other instrumental factors. However, the high-resolution images captured by the astronauts — in addition to an extensive sky brightness survey conducted around Madrid — have now allowed scientists to observe the direct relationship between the diffuse light observed and light pollution from artificial lights.

Using the ISS astronaut images, as well as data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program and the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership Satellite, the researchers also discovered that European countries and cities that have a higher public debt [3] also have a higher energy consumption of street lighting per inhabitant. The total cost of the energy consumption for streetlights is estimated by the study to be 6300 million euros/year in the European Union. The different ways of calculating streetlight energy costs across Europe previously made such an estimate impossible.

This citizen science project is vital for researchers from many scientific fields. Studying lighting technology from orbit is currently of even greater importance now than before due to massive transitions to LED technology [4]. The ISS is the only place from which it is possible to estimate the prevalence of the different types of lighting technologies used in cities around the world and to measure the impact of light pollution on the environment and human health.

“Until the advent of new satellites, astronaut photography was our only colour and high-resolution window on the Earth,” says lead scientist Alejandro Sánchez de Miguel.

After gaining the initial support of multiple institutions [5] and thousands of volunteers, the next phase of the Cities at Night project aims to gather funding to keep the project running, so it can extend its colour map of the nightside of the Earth.

Notes

[1] So far only a part of the Earth has been covered by astronaut photos, and only a fraction of the astronaut photos have been geo-referenced.

[2] Only RAW images can be used for scientific photometry after taking into account the instrumental effects of the digital SLR camera used.

[3] The General government gross debt for 2014 was used, as calculated by EuroStat.

[4] LED streetlights have been installed or announced for installation in several large cities as well as smaller cities throughout the world. LED street lights make light pollution — such as sky glow — significantly worse, as they emit more blue and green light than the high-pressure sodium lights that they typically replace.

[5] NASA, ESA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) helped by giving the project visibility, while Google Outreach and Cartodb helped with the visualisation of the products. MediaLab-Prado assisted with the design of the web pages and Crowdcrafting/Scifabrik supported the hosting of the citizen science programme. Kickstarter and the Sociedad Española de Astronomía helped to organise transport to conferences to present the results, and the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and the Cégep de Sherbrooke hosted the researchers.

Links

• First map
• Cities at Night catalogues
• Scientific results web page
• Crowdfunding campaign
• Machine translated thesis by A. Sánchez de Miguel
• IAU XXIX General Assembly

http://www.iau.org/news/pressreleases/detail/iau1510/

 

[Soheil_Esy]

Paleoastronomy: the sky as it used to be

Just before the Industrial Era (circa 1815). Only in your dreams...or in China

:lol:

Lunar Alpenglow and Orion

Taken on October 22, 2015, Sichuan province of China.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5786/22345434960_346220abd8_b.jpg

Canon EOS 6D
EF85mm f/1.8 USM
ƒ/2.0
85.0 mm
5 s
6400 ISO

Details:

Winter is coming, and it’s time to enjoy the famous constellation Orion. In this 5 seconds exposure, The settingmoon casts lunar alpenglow on the Chana Dorje peak at Yading national natural reserve, Sichuan province of China. In the background sky three belt star of Orion can be seen lined up almost vertically above the pyramid peak. The Horsehead nebula is also visible near the belt stars, and to the right is the great Orion nebula, also known as M42. the red-glowing circular structure surrounding Orion is Barnard's Loop. The bright red star Betelgeuse and blue Rigel appears on the both sides of the image.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffdai/22345434960/

Northern Cygnus

Taken on October 19, 2015
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5660/22482407189_b77946c5a1_b.jpg

Canon EOS 6D
EF85mm f/1.8 USM
ƒ/1.8
85.0 mm
8 s
12800 ISO

Details:

Is the eruption of volcano of fire in the sky? No, Actually it’s the reddish glow of NGC 7000, the North America Nebula and IC 5070, the Pelican Nebula set over the snow covered peak of Xizang, China. Bright, hot, supergiant star Deneb lies at right center in this telescope view. The image was recorded by a modified digital camera and fast lens. The sensitive system captured both planet Earth and deep sky in a relatively short exposure.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffdai/22482407189/

Photographing Orion

Taken on October 2, 2014
https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3932/15397073870_90b3afd4e4_b.jpg

Canon EOS 6D
8 s
20000 ISO

Details:

The magnificent emission region, just to the left of the two astro-photographers, is the Orion Nebula, M42, itself visible to the unaided eye. Rigel is the brightest star in this view, lies on the upper right of the picture. The Horsehead Nebula is visible in an 8 seconds exposure.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffdai/15397073870/

Deep Orion among the clouds

Taken on September 21, 2014
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8735/17008643802_37d17899f6_b.jpg

Canon EOS 6D
9998-9998mm
ƒ/2.8
9998.0 mm
64 s
6400 ISO

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffdai/17008643802/

Orion rising

Taken on September 27, 2014
https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7657/17087215291_613c364165_b.jpg

Details:

As you know Orion always comes up sideways, But this single deep exposure brings out many sky wonders normally beyond human perception. The red circle across all constellation Orion is Barnard's Loop. The Horsehead nebula.is also visible near the famous belt stars, and to the right is the great Orion nebula, also known as M42. The most surprising thing is that both the stars and nebulae of the hunter are beautifully reflected in the pool’s calm waters.

Photo Details:

Camera: Canon EOS 6D DSLR (Astro modified);

Lens: Samyang 35mm f/1.4 AS UMC lens;

Equatorial mount: iOptron Skytracker

Filter: Astronomik CLS Filter + Cokin P820 Soft filter;

Single exposure at FocaI ratio:35mm; ISO: 5000; Aperature:f/2.2; Exposure time: 30s

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffdai/17087215291/

Orion rising over the Himalayas

https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1608/23435308713_e3ce0ce61e_b.jpg
Taken on November 30, 2015

Canon EOS 6D
EF85mm f/1.8 USM
ƒ/1.8
85.0 mm
13 S
12800 ISO

The three lined up belt stars of Orion should be the most easily recognizable asterism in the winter sky. But Orion's stars and nebulas don't look quite as colorful to the naked eye as they do in this single deep exposure. Pictured above the dark Horsehead Nebula and Flame Nebula near Alnitak appear at the middle left. On the right lies M42, the great Orion Nebula,visible to the unaided eye, that is giving birth to a new open cluster of stars. Immediately to the left of M42 is a prominent bluish reflection nebula sometimes called the Running Man. Bright blue Rigel appears over the snow peak of the Himalayas on the image right.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffdai/23435308713/

Milky way in evening twilight

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/718/23150416352_e43732c425_b.jpg
Taken on November 10, 2015

Canon EOS 6D
25 S
3200 ISO

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffdai/23150416352/

California Nebula over Xizang

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/707/22637931287_6d935677be_b.jpg
Taken on November 11, 2015

Canon EOS 6D
EF85mm f/1.8 USM
ƒ/1.8
85.0 mm
20 S
6400 ISO

What’s the red glow above the snow mountains? It looks like the outline of California on the west coast of the United States, but it’s around 100 light-years long and about 1,500 light-years away. This is the famous California Nebula, also know as NGC 1499. It glows with the red light characteristic of hydrogen atoms recombining with long lost electrons, stripped away (ionized) by energetic starlight. But it’s a little bit unlucky that we can’t see this sense by our naked eyes.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffdai/22637931287/


Gokyo at Night

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/601/23540823419_4976effd70_b.jpg
Taken on December 7, 2015

Canon EOS 6D
25 S
6400 ISO

The night at Gokyo is the most relax moment during my Everest Base Camp journey. Here is the view just 2 minutes from the hotel. The winter Milky way with bright Sirius, Orion and Aldebaran shine above the moonlight mountainscape of Pharilapche. I also enjoy the calm view of Lake Dudh Pokhari with the reflections of the stars and snow peak.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffdai/23540823419/in/pool-astro-china/

Strange airglow

https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1578/23770595829_af1167275b_b.jpg
Taken on December 12, 2015

ƒ/1.8
13 S
4000 ISO

A strange airglow in ZheDuo Mountain. It is caused due to gravity waves.

Shutter time of one picture is 25s, f2.8, iso 6400 X12

https://www.flickr.com/photos/131823940@N05/23770595829/in/pool-astro-china/

Red airglow on The mountain KongKa

https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1501/23705019303_1a751567df_b.jpg
Taken on December 13, 2015

Nikon D4
14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
ƒ/2.8
14.0 mm
30 S
8000 ISO

Shortly after midnight, surrounded by thin cloud Kamiyama finally dispersed, the holy summit peaks reveal the real capacity, sprung clouds filled the mountainside to this majestic king of the air adding to a point close. Red sky airglow, is king Jianpi cloak for this Dark Night inject vitality and hope, Compass, Mars, Jupiter in the King side of the trunk of each other, like a sparkling jewel in the crown, Gemini meteor fall hills, flashing light as scepter.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/131823940@N05/23705019303/in/pool-astro-china/

The night show of Sagarmatha national park

https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5734/23395891184_73fe5296de_b.jpg
Taken on December 5, 2015

30 S
6400 ISO

You may want to stay for the night here. Welcome to world heritage Sagarmatha National Park of Nepal! We will have a spectacular show tonight: The arch of the Milky Way galaxy and bright Zodiacal light band appear over the 360° view of Himalayas. If you worry about too much cold during the show? Sherpa village, Dzonglha will offer you warm and sweet drinks.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffdai/23395891184/

Celestial V - Zodiacal light and Milky way over the Himalayas

https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5759/23309166189_a71bf44a4e_b.jpg
Taken on November 29, 2015

Canon EOS 6D
30 S
6400 ISO

Milky way vs. Zodiacal light, a celestial "V" was captured after sunset over the Himalayas. The Sherpa's mother Ama Dablam is the closest peak in this view on the left. The lights of Sherpa village Chhukhung can be found downside. Sagarmatha national park offers a closer view of the great Himalayas under the pure dark starry sky. Once in a life time to enjoy!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffdai/23309166189/

Celestial X - Zodiacal Light And Milky Way From Both Hemispheres

http://www.astronom.cz/horalek/wp-c..._Paranal_kompozice_viz_1500px_NA-628x1024.png
Larger JPG image
Date Taken: 2016:01:24 19:37:18

Details:

This image shows view to the sky in January from both hemispheres. It ingeniously uses the compositions and timing to demonstrate different views in the Milky Way and the zodiacal light close to the Sun in the sky, which is located in both cases under the horizon. While the upper image was taken from Slovakia on 2 January 2016 after the sunset, the bottom image just before the dusk in the early Chilean morning on 26 January 2015. Except the columns of the zodiacal light you can also notice reddish or pink H II regions emission nebulae in the visible plane of our Galaxy. On the northern hemisphere, the most noticeable is NGC 7000 or The North America Nebula (close to the upper right corner), while on the south – in completely opposite position – you can find a rose-shaped Carina Nebula. Both images were captured with same equipment in almost the same season, just with a year difference between first and the second one. Unfortunately, the northern part (from Slovakian village Oravska Lesna) is pretty much disturbed by the light pollution unlike the southern part, captured from ESO’s Paranal Observatory, which is located in incredibly naturally dark spot of the Atacama Desert.

Used Canon 6D IR Baader modified, Samyang 24 mm, f2.0, ISO 8000. Image from Slovakia (upper) is 23×15 seconds panorama, image form Chile (bottom) is 24×15 seconds panorama. Both images taken only from tripod.

More can be found here: http://www.astronom.cz/horalek/?p=2149

Commentary

@jeffdai Such exceptional seeing and transparency should deserve the best landscape for your next photo sessions!:lol:

S☫heil_Esy

Limestone ponds of the Huanglong valley in Sichuan Province, China.
http://www.travelchina.gov.cn/tirms/front/en_US/spot_105.html

Zhangye Danxia Landform Geological Park in Gansu Province, China.
http://en.people.cn/n/2015/1105/c207876-8972052-2.html

 

[Soheil_Esy]

More sources of light pollution Part 2

More obnoxious than the sattrack.

The worse part with that one (read scam), is when boarding an aiplane at dusk... Only to face the rudeness of the stewardess for not closing quick enough the window shades!

In the 1980s we were told it was due to copyright issues on the movies. It was the film distribution companies that required the blinds to be shut.

http://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=768357#p11087987

:rofl:

Tracking 13,000 flights into the weekend. Happy tracking everyone!

Jan 20, 2017

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C2oDE7QXUAEohth.jpg
https://twitter.com/flightradar24/status/822473841377153026

Note the twice blessed observers in the pristine West China region, like Jeff Dai. :hail:

 

[Soheil_Esy]

More sources of light pollution Part 3


Music reminds one of a coral spawning. Coincidence? I think not!

This process is called coral spawning. In some areas, mass coral spawning events occur on one particular night per year and scientists can predict exactly when this will happen. Trillions of eggs and sperm are simultaneously released into the water in one of the most astounding acts of synchronicity in the natural world!

https://drscdn.500px.org/photo/74039013/q=80_m=1500/d09011b4a275a9c1896949d0da3f3c24
https://500px.com/photo/74039013/coral-spawning-by-toshio-minami

http://coral.org/coral-reefs-101/coral-reef-ecology/how-corals-reproduce/

1,000 drones perform in formations, setting a new world record

12 Feb 2017

1,000 drones flew into the sky and performed various flying formations to celebrate China’s Lantern Festival on Saturday in Guangzhou, south China’s Guangdong Province. The number of drones set a new Guinness World Record—The largest quantity of drones performing together in the sky. The drones were made by a local science and technology enterprise in Guangzhou. Engineers developed a control system which can control the 1,000 drones from just one computer, setting routes for them and making sure they don't collide with each other.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C4hXigoVcAAMEWe.jpg
https://twitter.com/PDChina/status/831010744015548417

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C4hXigpUYAEb0kC.jpg
https://twitter.com/PDChina/status/831010744015548417

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C4hXigqVYAAHSzE.jpg
https://twitter.com/PDChina/status/831010744015548417


http://china.org.cn/china/2017-02/13/content_40275006.htm

Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUe2NufidOA
​

2017-02-12 08:23

http://img.mp.itc.cn/upload/20170212/312f44ff3001479ca72c0adbf6b0f8f1_th.png
http://mt.sohu.com/it/d20170212/126052833_318757.shtml
亿航1000架无人机在海心沙广场星光大道整齐列阵，等待起飞

http://img.mp.itc.cn/upload/20170212/d18b88ddeb6d4054822cc21046fd7e38_th.png
http://mt.sohu.com/it/d20170212/126052833_318757.shtml
亿航工作人员正在布置无人机编队列阵


See Also: screen captures from The Twenty Fifth Reich (2012) movie

http://ipic.su/7yt5MN.png
Screen captures from The Twenty Fifth Reich (2012) movie

http://ipic.su/7yt5MR.png
Screen captures from The Twenty Fifth Reich (2012) movie

http://ipic.su/7yt5MT.png
Screen captures from The Twenty Fifth Reich (2012) movie

http://ipic.su/7yt5MS.png
Screen captures from The Twenty Fifth Reich (2012) movie

February 14, 2017

After a record-breaking formation of 1,000 drones performed at the Guangzhou air show on the Chinese Lantern Festivalon Saturday night, military experts predicted that the swarming technique applied in drones might change future combat strategies.

During the 15-minute lighting show, 1,000 Ehang GHOSTDRONE 2.0, controlled by one engineer and one computer, showcased six different formations, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The drone swarming technique might be integrated into all weapon systems - satellite, combat aircraft or ground equipment, said Wang.

http://en.people.cn/n3/2017/0214/c90000-9177696.html

Coincidence? I think not!

Published on Feb 19, 2017

A Chinese power company is using flame-spewing drones to burn rubbish off high-voltage wires.
Stunning footage captures the remote-controlled flame-throwers in action in Xiangyang, Hubei Province.
A worker drives the drone up to the offending rubbish - more often than not a plastic bag caught on the wires - and presses a button to turn it to ash.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fOyHERaWyE
​

 

[Soheil_Esy]

More sources of light pollution Part 4


Spinoff of the Space Age Part 1: Artificial Space Clouds

Visibility of the rocket stage extended as far north as the Caspian Sea with favorable nighttime viewing for much of Iraq, Kuwait, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Various videos of the event show the the Falcon 9 second stage as a fuzzy object due to gas around the vehicle from its cold gas thrusters and engine chilldown sequence that had been underway by that time. At one point, the object can be seen ejecting a plume of gas toward its direction of travel, representing the start of the vehicle’s retrograde deorbit maneuver.

Iranian Space Research Center

February 20, 2017

At 19h local time on Sunday, the Falcon 9 was spotted over Iran for 10 minutes, leaving a huge luminous "rocket-thruster-shape" cloud, caused primarily by fuel dumps.

http://isrc.ac.ir/images/stories/events_space/1395/12/02.12.1395-sma-002.jpg
Image as published in the internet

http://isrc.ac.ir/images/stories/events_space/1395/12/02.12.1395-sma-003.jpg
Image as published in the internet


http://isrc.ac.ir/index.php/news/news-and-events-space/2245-1395-12-03-12-22-14.html

See also:

http://satobs.org/seesat/Feb-2017/0074.html

http://satobs.org/seesat_ref/misc/Space_clouds-Strange_Spinoff_of_the_Space_Age.pdf

 

[mikaelpa]

Polluted Senses

Experiencing Our True Senses Is Sadly a Privilege
It is sad to say that only a small amount of people in the world are able to experience the true beauties of the Earth. The northern lights, for example, cannot be seen in highly populated areas due to light pollution. The world we live in today revolves around industrialization, ignoring the beauty of nature that was given to us. Aside from light pollution, our other senses are being overwhelmed by intense stimulation in our day to day lives. Most are forced to live this way, as escaping to nature is a privilege. This is the problem, people have to look for escape routes instead of being able to readily experience our senses as they should be. An article by Michael Marder mentions how these “luxuries” are only niche solutions, since only the wealthy are able to escape sensory bombardment.
The article “Our Polluted Senses” by Michael Marder explains how our senses are being overwhelmed by massive amounts of stimuli. Marder mentions how there is continuous light and noise pollution in the urban environment. Both our smell and taste are also victims of this sensory bombardment, as the flavors and scents of industrialized products are overwhelming. Marder states that we turn our senses against themselves since the strong stimuli that we receive by our senses outshine the rest, not allowing us to perceive the more subtle things. Our sense of taste is ruined by junk food; the massive amounts of salt and sugar in junk food conditions our palate so we are unable to fully experience other flavors (Marder). This concept applies to the rest of our senses. Marder states in his article how “one or two stimuli will outshine, outsmell or outshout the rest. We thus become subject to not sensory overload but sensory underload”. The overall quality of our lives has been lowered and there is not much the average person can do about it. There are some ways we can escape these stimuli, such as dark sky reserves. These reserves limit the use of artificial light, allowing us to see the constellations and the galaxy. Quiet meditation classes are an escape to noise pollution and fine dining allows us to taste the more subtle flavors in our foods. However, Marder explains how “these niche solutions, reliant on the upscale market of experiences, do almost nothing to change the overall embodied meaning of being human in the 21st century”. We should be looking for solutions to reduce all this sensory bombardment instead of looking for private escape routes towards this problem.
Marder discusses throughout his article how the overstimulation of our senses diminishes our true experiences in life. The privileged upper class citizens are able to escape this overstimulation, leaving the general population to have to just deal with it. The point he is trying to bring across is that humanity should be trying to solve this problem in a more general scale. We should be experiencing the earth and our natural environment more. The industrial inventions and productions such as junk food, blaring lights, and loud sounds limit our senses’ ability to perceive the Earth’s more subtle details.
Although there are numerous ways to escape this sensory overload, many do not have the luxury to do so. Living in the city, people would have to drive hours before they are surrounded by wildlife. For example it would take 5 hours of driving time to travel from NYC to the Adirondack Mountains. These mountains are one of the few places without light pollution in New York. As earlier mentioned, our taste is affected by the abundance of salt and sugar in fast food. Due to our financial classes, most are not able to afford anything else but processed food. The cost of gourmet food is a luxury that only the wealthy have. Noise pollution can be found anywhere. People that cannot afford substantial living conditions are vulnerable to all the noises around them. Many live in apartments right next to overground subway tracks. It is not their choice to live there, however it is what they can afford.
Although there are some actions being taken to preserve the Earth’s original stimuli, it is not enough. Few places in the world make effort to reduce light pollution. A very small percentage of the population form what are called dark sky communities. According to Dark Sky Awareness, dark sky communities are people who work towards the “preservation of the night sky through the implementation and enforcement of quality lighting codes, dark sky education, and citizen support of dark skies”. A greater amount of the population should be working towards things like this. Found in numerous research, artificial light disturbs our circadian rhythm. This is our “biological clock” that determines our sleep patterns. The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) states that nighttime exposure to artificial light suppresses melatonin production. Melatonin is the hormone in our bodies that induces sleep. Due to overstimulation by light, people experience insomnia and depression.
All in all, the overstimulation of our senses negatively affects our health. Although this is known, barely any action has been taken to try to preserve our natural environment. It is very difficult for the average person to escape this overstimulation, as much of the working class cannot afford the luxury of traveling and fine dining.

Works Cited
Marder, Michael. “Our Polluted Senses” New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/09/...n/sectioncollection/opinion#story-continues-1

“International Dark Sky Communities, Parks, and Reserves” Dark Skies Awareness, http://www.darkskiesawareness.org/idsc.php

“Human Health” International Dark Sky Association, http://www.darksky.org/light-pollution/human-health/

Meindl, Susan. “Highly Sensitive People and Depression: Overstimulation May Lead To Depression” Highly Sensitive and Creative, http://highlysensitive.org/highly-s...ssion-overstimulation-may-lead-to-depression/

Rinkesh. “Understanding Noise Pollution” Conserve Energy Future, https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-and-effects-of-noise-pollution.php