Telescope Reviews: Long Slow Colorful Meteor Last Night- Aquarids?

Frank and Jeremy

Thanks for the compliments- Yes and no as to Franks statement about "too many streetlights". I would counter that with "not enough diplomatic astronomers and/or health and education officials to address the local electric company." I have edited this reply seveal times as I found a link ad it needed updating and if I may beg the moderators to allow me a little latitiude here; I just found this great link to a Wall Street Journal article on light pollution from last Fridays paper with a short 4 miute video from the author>
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121692767218982013.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

This is a topic for another discussion perhaps that I have made great strides in with little effort locally where others in the local astronomy club could not. When I built my home 20 years ago under dark skies many miles to the east in the Columbia River Gorge town of Troutdale about 20 miles east of Portland, I had just bought my new 10 inch Coulter Odyssey Dobsonian reflector. I called the local street lighting people and complained of "light trespassing" that was shining into my new homes windows and inhibiting my families sleep. This is a known health issue. I would not have told them that I am an astronomer or they would have not come out to add extra shrouding to contain the ambient and stray street lights. Almost no one else in the local club of hundreds knew how to diplomatically talk to the electric company as they could not get the results that I attained simply over the phone.

I wrote an article for the local astronomy club news letter on this subject. Perhaps I can post it here somewhere in the proper forum. It brings light to this issue (if you’ll excuse the pun) in a biting, cultural and humorous way as you know I always do.

I am very disturbed as to where I must reside temporarily now as I lost my home of 20 years in foreclosure a few months ago. I was in dark skies for nearly 30 years. The home I designed with large vaults and skylights, is a past life now- See it at > www.myspace.com/marksolarprophet (see upper right column area)

I am now residing back in an area, you have to do is you who was once to who who staying with friends where my parents first home was in 1955 as that was the edge of town 7 miles out from downtown Portland in 1955. The old street lights are still here, not like my newer area 25 miles out where I even asked the local lighting authorities to add extra shrouds around the street lights. I could walk out and look up and naked-eye visible the Andromeda Galaxy for 30 years until a few months ago, I lost all that.
Do you
I am now back in the dark ages for lighting- That is to say the bright “cobra head” streetlights that direct light in all directions and the locals here think that that is good for crime. They don’t get it. It is horrible for any possible dark sky astronomy but I can still see the bright things like the planets, moon, fireballs and of course the sun.

I rendered the Milky Way in this sketch as you can barely see it just toward the southern sky but not overhead.

-Mark

Edited by markseibold (07/27/08 09:17 PM)