Paydirt
sage
Reged: 12/02/07
Posts: 343
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Hi --- I hope this isnt old news but I just saw this on youtube and its a must see!! Its a vid by ISS crew showing closeups of the worlds citys at night taken using a homemade barn door tracker! This is just A W E S O M E !!!  Sorry again if this is old news.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEiy4zepuVE
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New Mexico Craig
sage
Reged: 09/05/07
Posts: 223
Loc: The Land of Enchantment
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That's a very well produced video.
craig
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Celestron CPC 1100 (aka "the groove tube")
The Motto of the Solar System :"Id quot circumiret, circumveniat."
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panhard
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/20/08
Posts: 2574
Loc: Markham Ont.
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Very nice also a good example of light pollution.
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Orion xt10i
8 & 17mm Hyperion eye pieces
koning 32mm 25mm skywatcher eyepieces
lumicon 0111 & antares variable polarizing filters
12x50 binos
A love for this hobby
"What goes around comes around."
"She who must be obeyed."
Herb c
cloudy nights my # 1 site
43.53°n 79.17°w
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bsim
professor emeritus
Reged: 01/04/08
Posts: 684
Loc: New York City
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Beautiful looking at night until you realize the monster light pollution.
The recent focus on reducing carbon emissions and energy expenditure could have a beneficial effect for astronomers in the near future. Hopefully, local governments will mandate more efficient lighting which focuses light down on the ground instead of shooting upward.
These days, I have to travel at least one hour to hit a Bortle 5 site. A Bortle 4 site is at least one and a half hours away.
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Teeter's 10" F/6 Truss Dob / Sky Commander DSC / Round Table Platform
Celestron C80ED / MoonLite CF Tri-Knob
William Optics ZS66, Orion XT8i, Orion XT4.5
Canon 10x30 IS, Constellation View 2.3x40 Bino
Astro-Tech Voyager, Bogen 3011 & 3036, UA MicroStar Deluxe
Howie Glatter Laser & tuBlug
13 & 8 Ethos, 35 & 24 Panoptic, Nagler 3-6 Zoom, TV 8-24 Zoom
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Bowmoreman
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 09/11/06
Posts: 2992
Loc: Bolton, MA
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"Las Vegas at night, our beacon of humanity"
If that quote doesn't really scare you, nothing will!
yeah - its beautiful, and really cool about the differences in technology, politics (they're saying "culture - but that isn't strictly true - albeit politically correct), etc...
For example, the outline of the district of Columbia is wild! And the obvious choices of older versus newer lighting technology at El Paso/Juarez...
but the profligate WASTE of energy is astonishing!
My favorite: Bend Oregon "also beautiful is what is NOT seen"!!
Those fishing fleets in the Sea of Japan were kinda cool, huh?
clear enough (and dark enough) skies
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Dave
Ustream
YLive
XT10i, RTP, CGE, R200CF, TMB80SS
31T5, 22T4, 13Ethos, 8Ethos, TV 3-6 Zoom; Paracorr
MallincamColorHyperPlus,SBIG STV&237A;CanonRebel Xti
WilderSkiesObservatory(BYO #90)
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StarStuff1
sage
Reged: 04/01/07
Posts: 437
Loc: East Tennessee
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Impressive video. Disappointing with the vast ignorance of what light pollution does.
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Two dozen eyepieces, a dozen binoculars, a half dozen refractors, two reflectors and a homemade Image Intensifier Eyepiece (IIE). All products subject to change by the owner at any time.
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skyview
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 02/01/06
Posts: 1086
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I liked the shot where they followed the Nile River. James Earl Jones should narrate the sequel, or perhaps Morgan Freeman.
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SkyView
All glory to the Hypnotoad.
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auroralights
Vendor (Astropublications)
Reged: 02/10/08
Posts: 34
Loc: Canada
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This U-tube video is amazing...even more amazing is that this astronaut doesn't even mention Light Pollution! Pretty discouraging.
So we have our work cut out for us. Here is link for a light pollution presentation (power point) that I've put together that you might want to download off my website. Feel free to use it- change it - delete my local stuff and add your own - share it with who ever you like. Here in my home town, we've formed a light pollution committee and we'll be doing a presentation to our City administrators and the department that looks after lighting; also will invite contractors/builders and down the road give a presentation to the home builders association. I would really appreciate feedback on my presentation as I'm always fine tuning it.
http://astropublications.com/light.html
Rena
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greenglass
sage
Reged: 01/22/06
Posts: 434
Loc: Ontario,Canada
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nightlight is an oxymoron? The cities look like nebulas that are hard to see from cities, man is replacing his lights for natural lights. Cool isn't it?
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7x50 Tasco binoculars
4" f/9 reflector
12.75" f/5.4 reflector
Edited by greenglass (04/15/08 09:33 PM)
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Paydirt
sage
Reged: 12/02/07
Posts: 343
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I wonder if maybe astronauts feel comforted when they look down from orbit and see city lights --- like it reminds them that they arent alone? Anyway thats what God is for.
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Ryus
sage
Reged: 01/23/08
Posts: 200
Loc: Near Washington DC, Northern V...
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NNNNOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
I could see my house! 
At 09:16 (Washington DC)
I wish I was joking! It's near Tyson’s, the big white spot to the west of DC.
 On a side note is there a web site to check out this out in more detailed.
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Clear skies,
Jonathan
Started amateur astronomy summer 2005.
8x30, 8.5x44, 7x50, & 9x63 (main) binoculars.
5.1" reflector; Coronado PST; &
4" refractor (with optional Solar Filter) (use all equally).
Currently planning on bigger scope (5"-6" refractor, 10" Dob (most likely), or 8" SCT (second most likely)).
Eyepieces: Meade 5000 UWA, Meade 4000 Plossls, TBM Planetary, and CEMAX for PST.
Barlow: TeleVue Powermate 2.5x, CEMAX 2x, and Meade #126 2x.
And a Binoviewer.
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Darenwh
professor emeritus
Reged: 05/11/06
Posts: 653
Loc: Saint Francis, WI
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I just wonder how much energy could be saved if all those lights were turned off for a single night.
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Daren
St. Francis, WI
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panhard
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/20/08
Posts: 2574
Loc: Markham Ont.
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Quote:
Beautiful looking at night until you realize the monster light pollution.
The recent focus on reducing carbon emissions and energy expenditure could have a beneficial effect for astronomers in the near future. Hopefully, local governments will mandate more efficient lighting which focuses light down on the ground instead of shooting upward.
These days, I have to travel at least one hour to hit a Bortle 5 site. A Bortle 4 site is at least one and a half hours away.
I have to trave for 30 min to get to a 4-5 site. Darn lights.
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Orion xt10i
8 & 17mm Hyperion eye pieces
koning 32mm 25mm skywatcher eyepieces
lumicon 0111 & antares variable polarizing filters
12x50 binos
A love for this hobby
"What goes around comes around."
"She who must be obeyed."
Herb c
cloudy nights my # 1 site
43.53°n 79.17°w
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StarStuff1
sage
Reged: 04/01/07
Posts: 437
Loc: East Tennessee
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In the May (or April) issue of S&T it was stated that from Mars one could look through a telescope with an occulting bar on the crescent Earth and see major cities. How shameful that so much light is wasted upward while gasoline passes $3.50 a gallon in the US. $4+ for diesel? Of course there are many other reasons for good lighting. Saving birds, sea turtles. HELL, saving the night sky is most important to me! Uhhh, sorry, guess I cannot pretend to be a greenie but... we want the same thing sometimes. Good lighting. It WILL save money, the lives of some animals, the lives of some people through the reduction of glare and the cost of gas of many including some amateur astronomers who will stay closer to home or at home to observe.
Actually I did enjoy the U-Tube Video made from the ISS. Especially I liked the "barn door tracker like those made by amateur astronomers" remark. Something like that, anyway.
FWIW: My wife and I went to Las Vegas in 1996. We walked out of Ceaser's Palace around dusk and saw the nucleus of Comet Hale-Bopp in spite of the extreme LP!
Rant's over.
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Two dozen eyepieces, a dozen binoculars, a half dozen refractors, two reflectors and a homemade Image Intensifier Eyepiece (IIE). All products subject to change by the owner at any time.
Edited by csa/montana (04/20/08 12:00 AM)
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starramus
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 09/01/04
Posts: 1124
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A remarkable view of our pain from above. I have seen the malignancy and it is us. If mankind survives into the far future the average terrestrial dweller will have no idea of how the night sky appears.
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Muffin Research
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 09/28/07
Posts: 805
Loc: Belgium
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Sadly there's no James Earl Jones Narration Possible anymore.
Beautiful Video!
But it's also a bit of a shock.
This is serious.
I mean since i'm into astronomy, and living in Belgium.
I found a dark site 671 miles away in France 
and I was amazed at how beautiful a bit of unpolluted night sky really is.
It's better than this video.
But looking up the place on LP map, it's still only 1000-1300 stars visible place.
Light pollution
I wonder what things would look like if I was in 1850 with a 4" refractor.
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Quelle Horreur!
Requime pour un Twister.
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