Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 30 March 1973:
Vol. 179. no. 4080, pp. 1285 - 1291
DOI: 10.1126/science.179.4080.1285
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Light Pollution

Outdoor lighting is a growing threat to astronomy

Kurt W. Riegel 1

1 University of California, Los Angeles 90024

There have been major qualitative and quantitative changes in outdoor lighting technology in the last decade. The level of skylight caused by outdoor lighting systems is growing at a very high rate, about 20 percent per year nationwide. In addition, the spectral distribution of man-made light pollution may change in the next decade from one containing a few mercury lines to one containing dozens of lines and a significantly increased continuum level. Light pollution is presently damaging to some astronomical programs, and it is likely to become a major factor limiting progress in the next decade. Suitable sites in the United States for new dark sky observing facilities are very difficult to find.

Some of the increase in outdoor illumination is due to the character of national growth and development. Some is due to promotional campaigns, in which questionable arguments involving public safety are presented. There are protective measures which might be adopted by the government; these would significantly aid observational astronomy, without compromising the legitimate outdoor lighting needs of society. Observatories should establish programs to routinely monitor sky brightness as a function of position, wavelength, and time. The astronomical community should establish a mechanism by which such programs can be supported and coordinated.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Outdoor site-lighting performance: A comprehensive and quantitative framework for assessing light pollution.
J. Brons, J. Bullough, and M. Rea (2008)
Lighting Research and Technology 40, 201-224
   Abstract »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)