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What Major World Cities Look Like at Night, Minus the Light Pollution

blogs.smithsonianmag.com

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Re: What Major World Cities Look Like at Night, Minus the Light Pollution

#51

Post by femto »

hobb0001 wrote: post #6
duck wrote: post #5

After living in Alaska for several years, I don't really think that is how cities would look at all. With just stars and even the aurora borealis, it is incredible how pure darknesss looks. I really didn't know how much light pollution effected the sky until living there, but even in small towns and other less populated areas the light from various sources changes the skyline.

Whew. I was wondering if I was the only one who has been out in the mountains and other rural areas, but have never seen a night sky like these.

t also helps to give your eyes time to adjust to the darkness. I've spent a few nights in the Australian outback, about 100km+ from any population greater than half a dozen or so. Initially, the view seems ho-hum, but stay outside in the dark for half an hour or so and it becomes amazing.

Re: What Major World Cities Look Like at Night, Minus the Light Pollution

#52

Post by pbhjpbhj »

officemonkey wrote: post #50
hobb0001 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whew. I was wondering if I was the only one who has been out in the mountains and other rural areas, but have never seen a night sky like these.

I grew up in rural New York and once, when camping, we stayed up very late with all the lights off. You would be amazed at how much your eyes eventually see after a couple hours in darkness. We could see Satellites, the Milky Way, and even the "Horse and Rider" ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_and_Rider ). Nowadays, with phones and ipod, it's nearly impossible to let your eyes adjust that long without light. But…

There's probably an app (that has probably been done) in there for making the screen show in hues of red. Or, if not an app then a screen protector that's a gel (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_gel).

Re: What Major World Cities Look Like at Night, Minus the Light Pollution

#53

Post by Joeri »

rquantz wrote: post #23
danso wrote: post #14

If you were in New York City during Hurricane Sandy, in the lower half, at least, you got a taste of this first hand. I had to walk home into the unpowered section of Manhattan every night from work. I took some photos during that time. Unfortunately, as it was still overcast, we never did get a chance to see the stars from downtown Manhattan: http://tumblr.eyeheartnewyork.com/post/37636219209/i-finally...

I remember being disappointed that it was overcast during the blackout. I was so hoping to get a chance to see stars.

A nearby city's lights are enough to hide much of the starscape so depending on how wide a blackout is you might not have seen much.

Re: What Major World Cities Look Like at Night, Minus the Light Pollution

#54

Post by Someone »

femto wrote: post #51
hobb0001 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whew. I was wondering if I was the only one who has been out in the mountains and other rural areas, but have never seen a night sky like these.

t also helps to give your eyes time to adjust to the darkness. I've spent a few nights in the Australian outback, about 100km+ from any population greater than half a dozen or so. Initially, the view seems ho-hum, but stay outside in the dark for half an hour or so and it becomes amazing.

And do stay away from _any_ light at least during that half hour. Rods take that time to fully adapt to the dark (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptation_(eye)#Dark_Adaptatio...; I think some experts claim even longer times). Since light adaptation goes much faster, even a short glance at a light means you need minutes to get fully dark adapted again.

Re: What Major World Cities Look Like at Night, Minus the Light Pollution

#56

Post by danso »

cpeterso wrote: post #39
danso wrote: post #14

If you were in New York City during Hurricane Sandy, in the lower half, at least, you got a taste of this first hand. I had to walk home into the unpowered section of Manhattan every night from work. I took some photos during that time. Unfortunately, as it was still overcast, we never did get a chance to see the stars from downtown Manhattan: http://tumblr.eyeheartnewyork.com/post/37636219209/i-finally...

Amazing photos! What is the streak of light in the sky of the Central Park (?) photo? An airplane or meteor?

Airplane, I believe.

Re: What Major World Cities Look Like at Night, Minus the Light Pollution

#57

Post by johnohara »

I've seen the night sky (moonless) from out in the Arizona desert and watched the Aurora Borealis from a stone outcropping on Sarah Lake in Quetico National Park.

It is a wonder to behold. I wish it looked like these photos. It doesn't.

You can clearly see the band of the Milky Way in both places. At first you think it's cloudy. But as your eyes adjust it becomes apparent the sky is clear and that's when the wonder of it all occurs to you.

Cool photos tho'. I'd buy one for my workspace.

Re: What Major World Cities Look Like at Night, Minus the Light Pollution

#58

Post by greeneggs »

jcr wrote: post #2

I doubt I'm the only one who read the article with the hope of finding some new technique to remove light pollution from images to show off the stars... and was mildly disappointed to find out the beautiful images were just cut-n-paste jobs (albeit outstanding ones). I'm wondering what kinds of techniques exist for removing light pollution? Spectrum sensitivity? Spectrum filtering on exposure? Post processing?

Here's a shot of the Milky Way over Los Angeles, taken over Los Angeles [1]. The first comment explains the technique. There's still cut-n-paste going on, because the exposure lengths for stars and for city lights are so different---and also the stars are moving. But you might consider it slightly more "honest."

[1] http://www.flickr.com/photos/magneticlobster/5941836830/

Re: What Major World Cities Look Like at Night, Minus the Light Pollution

#60

Post by SoftwareMaven »

snowwrestler wrote: post #17
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I attended a conference in Tucson last fall and...being jetlagged, did a nice walk at 4AM in the desert behind our resort. It was really amazing, I hadn't seen shooting stars in decades.

It's only a couple hours from Tucson to the Kitt Peak Observatory, where they have astronomy programs for the public. I talked my wife into doing it when we were there visiting friends last year. I highly recommend it. The astronomy is fairly basic, but the experience is incredible: You're up on a big mountain, surrounded by gigantic telescopes, in the middle of a vast desert wilderness. It's freezing cold outside af…

I went to scout camp in the Chiricahua mountains in SE Arizona and experienced the same thing. I'd sneak out if my tent at night to look at the night sky (until my scoutmaster chased a bear out of our camp...the guy was psycho!).
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