DARK SKY HOLLYWOOD -- There are few stars in Tinseltown.
Banished by the bright lights of the big city, celestial stars are rare in these parts, far rarer than their temporal counterparts who dot the silver screen.
Stand outside the
Griffith Observatory here on any moonless night and any twinkling above is more likely to be a police helicopter patrolling the skies or a jet approaching faraway Los Angeles International Airport.Perhaps a dozen miles (kilometers) to the east, at the world-renowned Mount Wilson Observatory, things are better, but not by much.
"Its probably the most light-polluted major observatory, maybe not in the world, but in the U.S.," said Sallie Baliunas, the hallowed observatorys deputy director.
Astronomers are fighting to preserve our view of the heavens, like this dazzling image captured by astrophotographer Dennis Young.
While there will be light pollution as long as there are artificial lights -- and astronomers to grouse about it -- things may be turning around.
"Its getting worse less badly than it was before," said Dr. Tim Hunter, a co-founder of the Tucson, Arizona-based International Dark-Sky Association (IDA).
The group, which has grown to more than 4,000 members in 69 countries across the globe since 1988, has labored tirelessly to combat light pollution to preserve and protect the nocturnal environment. Much of that battle is fought on the educational front, members said.
"We go everywhere, basically our whole purpose is to educate everyone everywhere about the value of
dark night skies and quality lighting," said Liz Alvarez, the groups associate director.~
Hunter initially joined forces with professional astronomer David Crawford to chase down the worst light polluters they would spot on nighttime forays around Tucson, an international center for astronomical work.
This composite of satellite images of Earth shows the vast amount of light being sent into space.
"We like to say that
the astronomers were the canaries in the coal mine," Alvarez said.The focus is now less confrontational, Hunter said.
"The best tactic was to find out about the issue and provide materials to people -- and not go after them," he said.
Today, the IDA draws together a diverse group of astronomers, lighting designers and manufacturers, environmentalists, ecologists, government officials -- even ophthalmologists -- to that task. Its full-court press on the issue comes in the form of information sheets and videos, newsletters and media-savvy lobbying.
Its efforts have paid off. Cities like Flagstaff, Arizona and Davis, California, along with dozens of others, have passed lighting ordinances that reduce light pollution -- often through the use of energy-efficient, low-pressure sodium lamps, and cut-off fixtures that carefully direct their light.
In Los Angeles as early as 1990, George Eslinger, the retired director of the citys bureau of street lighting -- and now an IDA board member -- began an ambitious campaign to upgrade the citys street lamps with a less light-polluting variety.
"As you fly in and out of L.A., there are certain major sections of the city where its evident," Eslinger said. "In one direction, you can see lighted streets without seeing the individual lights. Look in another, and youll see the individual pearls of light."
"It's not safety and security, it's advertising. People are just like moths: We are attracted to bright lights."
The benefits, members said, accrue not only to astronomers, but also to wildlife, elder drivers and energy-conscious business owners as well.
"Were one of the few environmental problems with a simple solution where everyone comes out ahead," said IDA spokesman Bob Gent, who has amassed a list of lobbying success stories for the group.
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The solution? "Use the amount of light you need, where you need it and when you need it," Alvarez said.
Among them are plans for a Vermont prison that
amateur astronomers feared would wash out the venerable Stellafane star party with its bright lights.However, a deal struck with the state will ensure the effects of the prison s lights are kept to a minimum, Gent said.
But bigger and brighter lights crop up all the time on the urban scene, where old celestial standards, like
the Milky Way, are rarely, if ever, visible.
Mount Wilsons Baliunas said she helped lobby against plans to light up a more than mile- (1.5-kilometer-) long bridge near the Port of Los Angeles. Although the California Coastal Commission eventually shot down the proposal last year on the basis of its potential risk to wildlife, Baliunas said it would have been a disaster for Mount Wilson as well.
"It would have lighted up a portion of the sky that would have been obliterated for us," Baliunas said.
The problem also creeps forward on a smaller scale, keeping the IDA on its toes. Gas stations, for one, like to bank on the appeal of a clean, well-lighted place to draw customers at night.
"Its not safety and security, its advertising," Gent said. "People are just like moths: We are attracted to bright lights."
Astronomers preach continued vigilance on the issue, with scientists gathered at the recently held International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly in Manchester, England sounding a wake-up call.
"Bit by bit, without realizing, we are all losing a direct connection with the universe," said Malcolm Smith, director of the Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory in Chile, in a written statement.
"Not only that, light pollution is one of the most rapidly increasing alterations to the natural environment created by humans. Reported adverse effects of this fog of artificial light involve plants and animals, as well as humankind. Human culture, from philosophy to religion, from art to literature and science, has always developed in relationship with the night sky and the universe beyond. Are we going to deprive future generations unnecessarily?"
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