Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: The Earth at Night

This is topic The Earth at Night in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Bob Maar (Member # 763) on 10-11-2002, 01:57 PM:

Check it out.
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0011/earthlights_dmsp_big.jpg

Posted by Jeffry L. Johnson (Member # 453) on 10-11-2002, 02:09 PM:

Depressing, isn't it.

International Dark-Sky Association

Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 10-11-2002, 03:12 PM:

Interesting to note that that is a doctored image, since its never night everywhere at once.

Posted by Aaron Haney (Member # 747) on 10-11-2002, 06:28 PM:

Well, of course it's a composite image. The fact that there are no clouds should be enough of a clue. Nasa has a very nice web page where you can get some extremely high resolution composite satellite images:

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/BlueMarble/

Images on the site go up to 8129 x 4096 pixels, and if you e-mail them, they can send you some 21,600 x 21,600 pixel images. They used to have those super high resolution images available directly for download, but I guess they removed them for bandwidth reasons. Although some of them do appear to be available via FTP as gzip files:

ftp://gloria2-f.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/stockli/

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 10-11-2002, 07:09 PM:

A spectroradiometer can "see" through clouds.

If anyone has some extra bucks to spend, the high res images on the Earth Observatory website are great sources for making large format printed murals.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 10-18-2002, 03:21 PM:

Kodak makes many of those satellite cameras:
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/government/ias/
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/government/ias/heritage/
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/government/ias/remote/model1000.shtml
http://kei.kodak.com/
http://kei.kodak.com/sampleimagery.asp

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: +1 585 477 5325 Cell: +1 585 781 4036 Fax: +1 585 722 7243
e-mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

Posted by Jeffry L. Johnson (Member # 453) on 01-10-2003, 02:54 PM:

International Dark-Sky Association
Tucson, Arizona

Contacts:
Elizabeth Alvarez, International Dark-Sky Association
520-293-3198 (office), 206-624-0500 (Jan. 8-9, 2003)
liz@darksky.org

Kevin Marvel, American Astronomical Society
202-328-2010 (office), 703-915-9688 (Jan. 8-9, 2003)
marvel@aas.org

Embargoed until: Wednesday, January 8, 2003, 2:00 pm PST

National Dark-Sky Week Set for April 1-8, 2003

Grassroots effort initiated by a High School sophomore
is endorsed by the American Astronomical Society, the
Astronomical League, and the International Dark-Sky
Association

A grassroots effort to highlight the beauty of the night
sky and to draw attention to the ever-increasing levels of
light pollution across the United States caused by poorly
designed lighting, has the endorsement of the American
Astronomical Society (AAS) and the International Dark-Sky
Association (IDA).

The AAS and the IDA believe that the opportunity to
experience the natural night sky should be available to
every citizen of our nation. This natural resource, which
inspires our attempts to understand the cosmos, should
be protected through the use of well-designed lighting
systems that put light where it is needed and not waste
energy through unnecessary illumination of the sky.
Properly designed lighting systems provide safety and
convenience without polluting one of our greatest natural
assets.

This is the second year that Jennifer Barlow, a high
school student from Virginia, has organized this
grassroots campaign. "The night sky has been forgotten
by many," she says, and she hopes that National Dark Sky
Week will encourage people to "look up" and appreciate
its wondrous features. As we reestablish that connection,
we hope to raise awareness about how to reduce light
pollution and protect our heritage of dark skies.

The American Astronomical Society and the International
Dark-Sky Association encourage all Americans to use the
evenings of April 1st to April 8th 2003, from 10 pm to
12 am (ET & MT) and 9 pm to 11 pm (CT & PT) to attend
public star parties, visit their local planetarium or
public observatory, or simply go outside to a safe,
dark location to enjoy the wonder of the night sky.
Learning the constellations, observing the planets,
wondering about the stars and the Milky Way are one
of the most basic of human experiences and should be
enjoyed by all.

National Dark-Sky Week is also endorsed by the
Astronomical League, a non-profit federation of 250
astronomical societies and nearly 20,000 members, and by
Sky and Telescope magazine.

More information on National Dark-Sky Week is available
at
http://www.nationaldarkskyweek.htmlplanet.com/

Note to Editors/Producers: This release is accompanied by
high-quality images and an animation; see details below.

The International Dark-Sky Association is making the
following illustrations available to the news media,
http://www.darksky.org/newsroom/pres-rel/pr030108.html
Permission is granted for one-time, nonexclusive use in
print and broadcast media, as long as appropriate credits
(as noted in the caption) are included. Web publication
must include a link to www.darksky.org .

Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 01-10-2003, 03:09 PM:

Those earth at night images are "burned in" pretty good and make it look worse than it is. Unfortunately when you do long exposure astrophotography, you also burn in the light pollution. [Frown]

It's such a shame that all that money (energy) just goes up into space and does nothing more than wash out the night sky. You'd think they'd want to reflect it down on the ground so they can see what it is they want to see both up and down. People often forget that half their environment is the sky.
I heard a statistic once that the US wastes more energy in inefficient STREET LIGHTS than the country of Scotland uses in a year. (That's JUST the wasted energy) [Eek!]

Posted by Jeff Skallan (Member # 891) on 01-11-2003, 04:43 AM:

Those annoying STREET LIGHTS do indeed contribute significantly to light pollution. [Frown]

It's not an issue I think of often or would lose any sleep over, but I have to wonder if street lights are really necessary. The county I live in, Jefferson County, does not use any street lights outside of residential areas and I think it's a good policy. The photo below shows a view overlooking the Denver metro area taken from Lookout Mountain.

It's getting more difficult to see the stars at night. Stargazer Jack Horkheimer flips his top every time he thinks about it!! [Mad]

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 01-11-2003, 05:44 AM:

I am annoyed when I see stars at night. I have started a movement to get rid of that annoying light caused by visable stars. I want to experience my own planet at night, but I can't because everyone turns their lights off and I can't do anything. If I turn on a flashlight to get around, my ass gets shot with a BB-gun by the light pollution guys.

Yes indeed. With all of the issues currently facing the world, this is something we need to get fanatical about NOW. I agree about wasted energy, though. We should use it far more efficiently with downward reflected lights that don't require as much power, etc.

Posted by William Hooper (Member # 71) on 01-13-2003, 02:12 AM:

quote:
Depressing, isn't it.

It's those damn drive-ins & exit sign lights.

Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 01-13-2003, 10:02 AM:

You make some good points Joe. The real issue is not using light (as we DO need to see at night) it's incorrectly or inefficiently using light. The light is supposed to be illuminating something you want to see, but in many cases people use outdoor fixtures that are very poorly designed so that the light shoots all over. Not only is this a waste of energy, but it is counter productive. It reminds me of those movies where someone is carrying a lantern and trying to find the (something) but they can't see because the light from the lantern is blinding them. They usually are eaten by the (something) because they couldn't see it coming. The same thing happens when you're driving down a country road with no street lights. Your eyes get all used to the dark and you do fine. Then, you come to an intersection and those streetlights are so bright, you have to put your hand up to shield your eyes, because not only can you not see , but it can actually hurt. I live out in the sticks on top of a small hill one of my neighbors has one of those cheap mercury vapor lights (crime lights) the thing is so poorly designed that although he's 120 ft below us and 1500 ft away, it shines up into my bedroom all night. People buy these things because they are the cheapest thing they can find. What they don't know is that they will pay much more to run that light during it's lifetime, than the difference of cost of one that was efficient and used the light well. Not to mention that they would be able to see better.
<Rant off>

Posted by William Hooper (Member # 71) on 01-14-2003, 05:17 AM:

It shouldn't be forgotten that much of that light around street lights seen from above is *reflection* of the the lights, which is how illumination of an area works. If illuminating an area around a street light, light will be reflected from it whether some of it is reflected onto the retina of someone or not. Even discounting lighted signage, & if all the street lights had hoods over them to keep from radiating upwards, the light radiated below to reflect off off objects in the area for illumination would *still* be visible in illuminated area from above (or the side, wherever).

Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 01-14-2003, 09:23 AM:

Yes there's nothing you can do (or should do) about reflected light. If you did, we wouldn't be able to see anything. But reflected light is diffused and soft. It's direct radiation that's bad. The test of a good or bad fixture is... Can you see the light bulb (source) if you are on the same level as the fixture? The fixture should be generating a 120° cone of light down wards from the fixture. Certainly not horizontally or above. The mercury vapor light I mentioned in the previous comment, has the bulb extending below the reflector, so the only place it doesn't shine is an approximate 120° cone above the fixture. That's why my neighbor's light shines in my bedroom window. Using a good light fixture is cheaper as you can use less watts and still get the same illumination and it's better because it puts the light where it needs to be and not in your eyes or in your neighbor's window. In many places in the country it is illegal to have light directly radiating off your property. It's just not enforced, unfortunately.