Amalia
Reged: 10/16/04
Posts: 5165
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Light Pollution Maps
Surely all members of CN are interested in knowing about light pollution.
This is a link to a rather small version of an European light pollution map:
http://www.lightpollution.it/download/euromini.jpg
Here a bigger version - only western Europe:
http://www.lightpollution.it/download/eurv1.zip
but there are four maps so covering whole of Europe -
they are to be found on:
http://www.lightpollution.it/dmsp/artbri.html
These are large scaled world maps:
http://www.lightpollution.it/worldatlas/pages/fig1.htm
Swiss Dark Sky Association made a very detailed version for Switzerland:
http://www.darksky.ch/medien/downloads/ch/LPSwissMap-50.pdf
smallest version (50 % "komprimiert")
from this internet site
http://www.darksky.ch/medien/artikel/lpoll_ch.html
I use to inform myself with this Swiss map and, depending on weather,
I chose my observation site.
I have seen that US-Americans have their own dark sky maps.
Maybe you could add the links to your maps? Thank you!
Hopefully this can help you to get to a darker sky!
Amalia
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Amalia
Reged: 10/16/04
Posts: 5165
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Hmm, I understand the USA is a little bit bigger than Switzerland... 
this site is interesting:
http://www.darksky.org/darksky/index.html
and if you are looking for a dark site:
(a huge, beautiful map - you click on a town (they are not labeled...)
then a new window opens and you see:
home (here you can control if you hit the right town... and you see the limiting mag)
1 is the nearest dark site
2 is the next
etc.
http://www.darksky.org/darksky/darksky_map.html
Amalia
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Amalia
Reged: 10/16/04
Posts: 5165
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Germany:
I don't know if this map is really helpful, have a look:
http://www.astrogalaxie.de/Lichtverschmutzung.htm
You better open the bigger version:
http://www.astrogalaxie.de/Lichtv-D-3a.jpg
Amalia
P.S.
These are already much better:
http://www.der-starhopper.de/html/lichtverschmutzung.html
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Amalia
Reged: 10/16/04
Posts: 5165
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Austria:
An excellent map on
http://astro.nightsky.at/Obs/LP/
is
http://astro.nightsky.at/Obs/LP/LV_DMSP.jpg
Amalia
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Amalia
Reged: 10/16/04
Posts: 5165
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Great Britain:
click on the link for your region:
http://www.cpre.org.uk/campaigns/landscape-and-beauty/light-pollution/light-pollution-your-area.htm
Amalia
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Edited by Amalia (06/28/05 12:06 AM)
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fxxm747
professor emeritus
Reged: 05/26/04
Posts: 696
Loc: Milwaukie, Oregon
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Cool links, the US map was really accurate for my location in Portland, Oregon.
Jim
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* Jim *
80mm f15 Refractor
Meade Research Grade 8" Newt
Meade Starfinder 10" EQ
Homemade 12.5" Fork Mount Newt
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Quote:
Light Pollution Maps
Surely all members of CN are interested in knowing about light pollution.
Thank you Amalia. I have excellent dark skies in the mountains east of my small Oregon town.
Even from my back deck, the view is fairly good.
I was suprised by how much light pollution the maps show for Europe. You are lucky to have some dark areas nearby.
- Roger 
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ClownFish
Post Laureate
Reged: 04/26/05
Posts: 5600
Loc: Islamabad, Pakistan
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Hey Amalia, thanks for the maps!
I hope most CN folks know this, but a great tool is the ClearSkyClock which shows the seeing conditions for your exact location, and has a good light pollution map for your area. Unfortuanely it's only for the USA, Canada and Mexico. Anyone can have one.. mine is at:
http://cleardarksky.com/c/SwtwtrHObNMkey.html?1
Perhaps someone will design such a system for the rest of our planet.
Anyway, off topic. Have you ever been to Leysin, Switzerland? My daughter just fished her 10th grade (High School) at the Leysin American School there. She said she is now totaly spoiled for snow boarding by the Alps, and would be disspointed to board anywhere else besides Switzerland or Austria (we lived in Vienna last year). Spoiled teenager, I need to take her to Chile. Dark SOUTHERN skies and skiing! 
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Learn all about POLAR ALIGNMENT with my Drift Method Tutorial and simulator!! Or visit my Foreign Service Blog!
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BradH
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 06/19/04
Posts: 1008
Loc: Spencer, Indiana
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Thanks for the links. I used darksky.org here is what I got.
Longitude -86.67
Latitude 39.28
appox ZLM 6.20 6.55 
I do get a little problem from a billboard a few miles away  but at 1:30am it goes out 
Brad
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AP 140mm f7.5 StarFire
AP 900 GTO
PST goto Meade DS mount
Mallincam Hyper Color Plus
Skyshed
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Amalia
Reged: 10/16/04
Posts: 5165
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Quote:
Cool links, the US map was really accurate for my location in Portland, Oregon.
Jim
Happy to read this, Jim! Thanks!
Amalia
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Amalia
Reged: 10/16/04
Posts: 5165
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Quote:
Quote:
Light Pollution Maps
Surely all members of CN are interested in knowing about light pollution.
Thank you Amalia. I have excellent dark skies in the mountains east of my small Oregon town.
Even from my back deck, the view is fairly good.
I was suprised by how much light pollution the maps show for Europe. You are lucky to have some dark areas nearby.
- Roger
Happy you, Roger!
Yes, the situation here is not easy. Switzerland offers more
possibilities than other countries.
Still, to be under a 6+ sky I travel at least one hour -
I really like these night adventures! 
Amalia
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Amalia
Reged: 10/16/04
Posts: 5165
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Quote:
Hey Amalia, thanks for the maps!
You are welcome!
Quote:
I hope most CN folks know this, but a great tool is the ClearSkyClock which shows the seeing conditions for your exact location, and has a good light pollution map for your area. Unfortuanely it's only for the USA, Canada and Mexico. Anyone can have one.. mine is at:
http://cleardarksky.com/c/SwtwtrHObNMkey.html?1
Perhaps someone will design such a system for the rest of our planet.
This would be more than cool, Peter!
Quote:
Anyway, off topic. Have you ever been to Leysin, Switzerland? My daughter just fished her 10th grade (High School) at the Leysin American School there. She said she is now totaly spoiled for snow boarding by the Alps, and would be disspointed to board anywhere else besides Switzerland or Austria (we lived in Vienna last year). Spoiled teenager, I need to take her to Chile. Dark SOUTHERN skies and skiing!
*You* spoil her!
Yes, I have been in Leysin, several times.
Never for skiing, though (I am not into boarding).
I know an observation site upon Leysin - and a disco, too!
Leysin is very very beautiful, especially in autumn! 
Amalia
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Amalia
Reged: 10/16/04
Posts: 5165
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Quote:
Thanks for the links. I used darksky.org here is what I got.
Longitude -86.67
Latitude 39.28
appox ZLM 6.20 6.55
I do get a little problem from a billboard a few miles away but at 1:30am it goes out
Brad
You are welcome, Brad!
A 6.2mag sky? Woow! 
Maybe you'll find something to put between you and the billboard?
Or go behind a house?
I have already used the car as a light shield. 
Happy observing!
Amalia
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mirage
professor emeritus
Reged: 09/23/04
Posts: 693
Loc: central texas
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Here's one I put together last summre for Central Texas. It's great for finding backroads to little pockets of darkness.
Standard Bortle Scale colors.
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imber stellarum 10x50 binoculars
architectural advisor
friends of the austin planetarium
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Limiting Mag: 6.6
Long: -75.35
Lat: 37.49
Eastern Shore of Virginia, about a mile from the Atlantic, 54 miles from the closest shopping mall, movie theater, Taco Bell, etc.
This explains why I have a hard time seeing constellations in the summer. They blend into the rest of the Milky Way!
Maybe I can use this as proof to the wife that I need an observatory out back with a 36" dob.
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BradH
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 06/19/04
Posts: 1008
Loc: Spencer, Indiana
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Amalia
I have may skyshed it the backyard and really no way to block it  just have to wait until it goes of at 1:30am or maybe a driveby with a BB gun 
Brad
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AP 140mm f7.5 StarFire
AP 900 GTO
PST goto Meade DS mount
Mallincam Hyper Color Plus
Skyshed
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Amalia
Reged: 10/16/04
Posts: 5165
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@ Mirage:
Thank you for participating and posting another map!
@ Dave:
You obviously don't need any light pollution map!
But... did you know there is also 7+ sky?
@ Brad:
No guns! Maybe you could ask the responsable if
the lights could be spent earlier? 
It's useless to let them burn so long!
Amalia
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Thick_asa_Planck
Dark Sky Hunter
Reged: 09/04/04
Posts: 3341
Loc: UK
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Great, i'm in a red zone on the GB map...thanks for the link anyway Amalia!
Alex
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It is often commonplace to leave the notation ambiguous - Anonymous
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ClownFish
Post Laureate
Reged: 04/26/05
Posts: 5600
Loc: Islamabad, Pakistan
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I just tried the DarkSky.org and got a 6.6 from my home 
CF
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Learn all about POLAR ALIGNMENT with my Drift Method Tutorial and simulator!! Or visit my Foreign Service Blog!
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Amalia
Reged: 10/16/04
Posts: 5165
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@ Alex: You are very welcome, Alex!
@ Peter: Lucky you! 
Amalia
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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this pretty much sums up why I'm a planetary guy:
http://www.lightpollution.it/worldatlas/pages/fig8.htm
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droid
rocketman
Reged: 08/29/04
Posts: 3121
Loc: ohio
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Wow , my limiting magnitude is 3.5???sheesh, no wonder Im a lunar watcher.
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andy
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michaeloconnell
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 08/18/03
Posts: 963
Loc: Ireland
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Thanks for the links Amalia! 
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Michael
www.astroshot.com
Gemini G41 Observatory+ Mount, Meade 16" SCT OTA, TEC140 Apo, 16" ATM Dob, Pentax75 SDHF, PST Ha, PST Cak.
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Amalia
Reged: 10/16/04
Posts: 5165
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You are very welcome, Michael!
And here some more light pollution informations about parts of Germany:
http://www.maxon.net/~sterngucker/artikel/_praxis/lpollution/lpollution.html
Amalia
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Amalia
Reged: 10/16/04
Posts: 5165
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...and some more about the USA, specially regarding Virginia,
Maryland and West Virginia:
http://www.novac.com/lp/
Feel free to post a light pollution map here! 
Amalia
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Starman1
Vendor - Scope City
Reged: 06/24/03
Posts: 10955
Loc: Los Angeles
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Like Amalia, I have to travel to a dark site. I travel around 155km to the nearest dark site (mag.6.4-6.5ZLM).
I just obtained a Sky Quality Meter from Unihedron (I will do a review for Cloudy Nights next month). It measures the sky brightness in magnitude per square arc-second.
The best it gets on Earth is around mag.22.
Mount Pinos, my usual site, I estimate at mag.21 (I'll know better in August).
My home (measured last night before the Moon was above the trees) is mag. 17.86, which is over 3 magnitudes brighter than my dark site.
To see what my 12.5" sees at Mount Pinos, I'd need an aperture of larger than 50" !!! at my home.
This is why only the Moon and planets are viewed from my home.
And why I stay up all night every time I go to the mountains.
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Don Pensack
12.5" Truss Dob, 5" Maksutov
Sustaining Lifetime IDA member, TeleVue junkie
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Amalia
Reged: 10/16/04
Posts: 5165
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http://unihedron.com/projects/darksky/
(price 120$)
Very interesting, Don, thank you! 
Looks like an easy way to save time!
Amalia
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Starman1
Vendor - Scope City
Reged: 06/24/03
Posts: 10955
Loc: Los Angeles
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Post deleted by Starman1
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Don Pensack
12.5" Truss Dob, 5" Maksutov
Sustaining Lifetime IDA member, TeleVue junkie
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cildarith
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 08/26/04
Posts: 2121
Loc: San Diego, CA
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Cool. I look forward to hearing your results with the SQM, Don.
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Eric
6" f/6 Parks Newtonian
10x50 Bushnell Binocs
CN Sketch Gallery
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Mr. Bill
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/09/05
Posts: 2759
Loc: Just passing through.....
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Quote:
I hope to use the SQM (Sky Quality Meter) to determine:
--how good a potential new site is.
--to check my home for variations in brightness
--to check my observing site several times during the night, log it, and keep track over the years
--to use the measured brightness to decide whether to seek the faintest objects. If I get an exceptionally dark night, I shouldn't waste it looking at M13, M57, etc.
--to accurately measure ZLM without subjective variations.
--to build a cross-reference chart with the Bortle Scale
--to see if sky brightness changes with the solar cycle
--to map local variations in the light pollution maps on the Clear Sky Clock site.
--to measure the sky brightness in particular directions of the compass.
I'm not very handy when it comes to building electronic devices. Plans are on the web for building these things from scratch, but it's beyond my abilities.
At the price of an inexpensive eyepiece, I thought this would be a nice tool to have.
Right on, Don...
I'm buying one too. At this price, its not worth building it up yourself. I know, because in my past life I designed such devices. Besides, its calibrated to NIST standards.
The only problem is that there is not a calibration technique to periodically check if there is drift in the unit. You have to go on faith that it remains constant, otherwise you can't trust the readings. Another problem is the numbers are logrithmic, so a litte change in the number read means a big change in the observed conditions.
I propose building a calibration light source to verify the accuracy of the readings. Will contact company to see what they think, but coming up with device shouldn't be a big deal.
Propose pointing meter at Polarius because of lack of stars in region (no sperious readings from M.W.)
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10x50 Fujinon FMT-SX binos
15x70 AP binos + Paragon p-mount
Oberwerk 100BT 45 degree + Hercules fork mount
120mm f/5 Orion achromat + Moonlite focuser
140mm f/5.7 Vixen NeoAchro Petzvel refractor
150mm f/6.5 Antares achromat
150mm f/8 homemade achromat....EE Barnard MW Sweeper
8 inch newt with f/5 Swayze mirror
10 inch f/4.7 Orion newt + Paracorr
15 inch f/5 Discovery split tube
35mm Pan, 26mm Nagler, 17mm Nagler, 13mm Ethos, 8mm Ethos
Member IDA
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Starman1
Vendor - Scope City
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