2 December 2016
In my blog two weeks ago, the night sky video Lost in Light made me wonder how we’ll ever see the stars again.
Since then I’ve learned that our outdoor lights waste money and energy, disrupt wildlife, and ruin our own sleep patterns. What we can do?
The video above from McDonald Observatory shows a simple answer. Use lampshades.
The quick demonstration below shows why.
Right now our cities and towns are switching out incandescent street lights for LEDs. It’s the perfect time to put on lampshades. You can shade your home lights, too.
p.s. The color of LED light matters too! Blue light versus red spectrum: Uh Oh! Blue Light Isn’t Better.
(videos from McDonald Observatory and darksky.org)
What a coincidence this was the topic. When I look at the Gulf Tower camera at night, something is different this year. Last year way off in the distance were a set of lights that blinked continually. It looked like it would be a advertising sign on top of a building. This year the lights are gone. Were there any buildings that might have been torn down or maybe the sign was removed.
Karen, it might have been a construction crane for a new building that’s now complete. Other than that I don’t know. By the way, have you noticed that the lights are brighter in the visible area closest to the Gulf Tower? I think they changed out the incandescent lights for LEDs in that location.
I look at the Gulf camera every day. Tonight it looks like the camera had a few tweaks.
Everything is crystal clear, bright and a tad closer/bigger.
Thanks Kate
Very interesting topic! I crave the milky way. When camping, I consider myself very lucky if I have a dark sky without clouds to see the glory of the sky. Often I can see a shooting star too.