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Light Pollution Map

lightpollutionmap.info

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Re: Light Pollution Map

#81

Post by shagie »

amoorthy wrote: post #70
dmrotar wrote: post #56

Resources like this (and as others have mentioned, Dark Site Finder) are very useful for astrophotography, especially for a hobbyist like myself. Many don't realize how relatively close they live to areas with great nighttime viewing conditions. For example, upstate New York has some great viewing locations, so even if you live in NYC it's an easy weekend trip. Here's a shot I took of the Milky Way taken from such a…

Wow amazing! I've been itching to show my kids the Milky Way. I myself have only seen it once in New Zealand decades ago. What is the minimum dark sky rating to be able to see it with the naked eye? I live in the Bay Area and I know there is Pigeon Point Lighthouse which is a dark sky spot but I think it's often cloudy. If anyone has better suggestions would be grateful to hear those.

I'd suggest taking a road trip and go out to Panamint Springs outside of Death Valley. I forget if it was Zabriskie Point or Father Crowley Vista Point when I was there... but I felt that I could see all the stars that night. There was a distant glow to the east that was Vegas and another glow to the south west that was LA.

This also has an advantage that it's dry and so you don't get clouds as much.

Though, specifically for the Milky Way: https://darksitefinder.com/how-to-see-the-milky-way/

Re: Light Pollution Map

#83

Post by afterburner »

birktj wrote: post #43
mig39 wrote: post #23

Is the light pollution in the North Sea really that intense? How about the Grand Banks off Atlantic Canada / Newfoundland? Are these due to oil platforms? I find it hard to believe that the light pollution at the head of the Grand Banks, almost 200km off shore, is equivalent to the the metro area of St. John's, nearby.

The North Sea ones are oil platforms, yes. I believe the light intensity is largely because of gas flares [1], but I might be wrong. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_flare

It's probably just because oil installations tend to be very well lit, probably for safety.

Re: Light Pollution Map

#84

Post by dheera »

bchanudet wrote: post #77
dheera wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ironically, it's not very international. 22 out of the 29 "International" Dark Sky Communities are in the US: https://www.darksky.org/our-work/conservation/idsp/communiti... I can think of a lot of towns outside the US that have excellent dark skies but they aren't listed here.

Dark Sky communities are only one kind of designations, there are also Dark Sky "Parks" [0], "Reserves" [1], and "Sanctuaries" [2]. Those are much more scattered through the world. [0] https://www.darksky.org/our-work/conservation/idsp/parks/ [1] https://www.darksky.org/our-work/conservation/idsp/reserves/ [2] https://www.darksky.org/our-work/conservation/idsp/sanctuari...

It still looks very US-biased.

I can think of several dozen places and parks in northern Scandinavia, western China, Mongolia, Canada that are almost devoid of light pollution that aren't even on this list.

Also almost the entire country of Iceland and all of its parks are excellent dark sky and not even mentioned here.

And that's just places I have personally been. I'm sure there are huge parts of Africa, Australia and the Middle East, and South America are excellent as well, and one would think that if I were to travel to those continents that I could look to a website called the "International" Dark Sky Association to find out where the best dark sky parks are in those places. But no.

It just seems a bit hypocritical to me to call it "International" but with very little attention to the wealth of excellent dark sky areas outside the US.

Re: Light Pollution Map

#85

Post by afterburner »

giarc wrote: post #8
steanne wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"...however, at any given time, several thousand transient workers support the Prudhoe Bay oil field."

The bright spot is bigger than the bright spot over Paris and London though. Do they just leave the lights on 24/7 in the bay?

Oil installations are extremely well lit.

Re: Light Pollution Map

#87

Post by jakear »

jakear wrote: post #65
jonah-archive wrote: post #33

This is a bit tangential, but should be a pretty good aurora over North America tomorrow (Sat Apr 24) night -- visible on the horizon as far south as Salem, OR to Annapolis, MD: https://www.gi.alaska.edu/monitors/aurora-forecast (forecast is for the UTC day, so the prior overnight for NA)

Neat! Any idea where on the Oregon coast would be the best place to watch? Hard to tell specifics from that map.

Answered my own question with the power of macOS preview. So the center of the outer band lies at around Newport, then continues to just south of Bend.

Cross referencing with the dark sky map, your best bet on the coast is probably around Roosevelt Beach, though the Oregon Dunes and Dismal Swamp general area also holds promise

(I have no idea how far out of the band you can be while still seeing it, they list Salem as a good viewing spot, which is much further north than the band)

Re: Light Pollution Map

#88

Post by jjtheblunt »

sparker72678 wrote: post #55
tut-urut-utut wrote: post #25

It's not like nothing can be done about light pollution. For example Germany has a law about light pollution, and it shows on this map. It less polluted than its neighbours, although it has higher population density and urbanization level.

https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/#zoom=7.00&lat=34.1123&lo... Flagstaff vs. Prescott in Arizona is another good example. Flagstaff has strict output per area limits, Prescott has none, while the density of both areas is similar.

Cave Creek Arizona is another dark sky area (where we live) and it's an excellent thing

Re: Light Pollution Map

#89

Post by 2iP1zbR »

i remember a long time ago i was told north korea was a dark spot on earth when viewed from space, interesting to see it on an actual light pollution map. not that north korea is alone in this aspect.

Re: Light Pollution Map

#90

Post by steanne »

dheera wrote: post #84
bchanudet wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dark Sky communities are only one kind of designations, there are also Dark Sky "Parks" [0], "Reserves" [1], and "Sanctuaries" [2]. Those are much more scattered through the world. [0] https://www.darksky.org/our-work/conservation/idsp/parks/ [1] https://www.darksky.org/our-work/conservation/idsp/reserves/ [2] https://www.darksky.org/our-work/conservation/idsp/sanctuari...

It still looks very US-biased. I can think of several dozen places and parks in northern Scandinavia, western China, Mongolia, Canada that are almost devoid of light pollution that aren't even on this list. Also almost the entire country of Iceland and all of its parks are excellent dark sky and not even mentioned here. And that's just places I have personally been. I'm sure there are huge parts of Africa, Australia…

they give attention to the places that apply for the designations.
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