city lights and space ads may blind stargazers - outdoor solar street lights

By MALCOLM W.
BROWNEMAY 4,1993 this is a digital version of an article from The Times Print Archive, before it begins online publishing in 1996.
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With the strong light of artificial light spreading more and more widely in the night sky of the planet, astronomers are having nightmares.
The great American observatory now faces the possibility that huge commercial billboards may soon enter orbit, while cities afraid of crime drown the night sky with increasingly bright lights.
In addition to this light pollution plague, the Observatory also faces increasing interference from ordinary sources such as radio. Garage-
For most of the 20 th century, astronomers have been doing a failed movement to keep the night sky as dark as possible.
For the largest telescopes, light pollution is a special problem, and they look for the most distant and faint galaxies on the edge of the universe.
But now, the great observatory, once safe away from the light of the city's lights, is seriously threatened.
Many scientists believe that optical and radio telescopes will have to move to the far end of the moon when earth astronomy becomes ineffective.
Astronomers believe that the two latest developments in the threat are the indirect result of the US recession.
The economic downturn has damaged shopping areas in the city center, and as a result the city is scrambling to make them more attractive, partly because of the addition of bright lights.
The economy has also reduced federal funding for several science branches, leading some government scientists to work with sponsors on projects such as space commercial advertising.
Advertising caused a stir after announcing Space Marketing last month. of Roswell, Ga.
Working with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the University of Colorado in California, plans to launch-mile-
Send satellites into orbit around the Earth.
The spacecraft, made of thin plastic film, will reflect sunlight from aluminum-containing letters or symbols to the Earth.
The logo runs at a height of about 180 miles and is visible to the naked eye.
According to the description of its developers, from the ground, the satellite seems to be between the size of the full moon and the size of the half moon, depending on the change in atmospheric effects.
But the high reflection part of the spacecraft captures the sun at the best angle and may make it look brighter than the moon.
The De destroyer, who calls it a "Orbital Billboard", will carry the instruments manufactured by Livermore to study the Earth's atmosphere and will not incur direct costs to the government.
Instead, the project will be supported by commercial sponsors who will be given the right to use the ship symbol in their ads.
The announcement prompted astronomers around the world to receive an angry letter.
British astronomers Derek McNally is the chairman of the Environmental Committee of the United Nations International Federation of science.
"The ultimate disaster in astronomy has now been clearly identified: commercial advertising from space," he wrote . ".
"This misuse of space, including the launch of a solar reflector carrying advertising materials, makes it look as bright as the Moon (as a minimum)
, With 90-
The minute cycle will almost eliminate the deepsky astronomy.
"Mike Lawson, president of Space Marketing, denied in an interview that the proposed spacecraft would harm astronomy.
"The purpose of our 'environmental space plates' is to help scientists who are unable to put environmental sensors into orbit," he said . ".
"The project will be supported by business sponsors related to environmental reasons who can display our symbols in advertisements like Olympic sponsors. "The mile-
A wide spaceship, like a regular Billboard, can only be seen for about 10 minutes at a time at any given location on Earth, and its designers say that in the middle of the night, when it cannot reach the sun's light, it can't see at all.
When it was launched in 1996, it will cause astronomical observation stations, and there will be no more problems than aircraft flying over the sight of large telescopes. Lawson said.
In addition, the "environmental space platform" consisting of almost entirely thin Mella plastic film will be re-developed
Enter the atmosphere and burn out within 20 days of launch.
The assurances did not appease opponents.
The Trojan horse at SkyThe Center for Business Studies, a public interest group in Washington, is organizing an alliance of scientists and laymen to oppose the project.
"We think this track Billboard is a Trojan horse," said Karen Brown, a spokesman for the group . ". "A would-
Be space advertisers can launch his satellite only with permission from the Department of Transport.
Space Marketing satellites may be the first of many.
Dr. advertising
Preston Carter of Lawrence Livermore Labs is working on space marketing for the project, explaining that Billboard satellites can be mounted in a very small container launched by Delta rockets or even smaller Conestoga rockets, or launch by a rather small European, Russian, Chinese or Japanese rocket.
In space, the gas will be used to inflate the thin Mehr tube that forms a symbolic rigid structure that will support a large chunk of the Mehr tube facing the Earth.
With the end of the Cold War, the federal nuclear weapons laboratory Lawrence Livermore was ordered to apply as much scientific expertise and equipment as possible for the benefit of the economy.
Support for space business projects seems to fall within this new mandate.
But, even without space advertising, astronomers are struggling with the possibility of preventing light pollution and radio pollution from destroying a large number of measurement methods.
One of the latest threats to astronomy has appeared in the city of Virginia, where disease and crime have squeezed many businesses out of the downtown neighborhoods.
Many residents and businessmen attribute the flight of the business to the city's street lights, which have bathed the city in the bright, pure yellow light produced by low brightness since its installation in 1984
Pressure sodium vapor.
Through Prism observation, this light is concentrated in two rather narrow lines of the spectrum, which can be filtered out by the Astronomical Observatory. Yellow low-
Pressure Sodium street lamps are important for observers who use the mighty 200
An inch telescope about 40 miles from Paloma Mountain. (
The size of an astronomical telescope is expressed in inches or meters as the diameter of its light.
Collect mirrors. )
The San Diego lighting program last month, a committee of the Parliament of San Diego voted to replace some of the lower
High pressure sodium lamp-
Pressure sodium lamp for Peaches-colored light.
This light is applied to most of the visible spectrum, and astronomers cannot filter it out.
In the coming weeks, after the city council voted, the city government is expected to order a change.
A spokesman for Mayor Susan Golding said he was not aware of any scientific research proving that lighting had any direct impact on the crime.
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"But a lot of people in San Diego are against these yellow lights ---
They call the worm lamp--
"Part of the reason is that they wash off all the colors and part of it is that the lights are considered an invitation to crime," he said . ". Dr. Robert J.
Brucato, assistant director of the Palomar Observatory, managed by the California Institute of Technology, said: "This is a very unfortunate development.
It is hard to say at this point how much high destructive
Pressure sodium lighting is useful for us, but it certainly hurts the observation of very weak objects ---
Distant galaxies and meteoroids are the main driving force in today's Astrophysical science.
Advertising "the California Institute of Technology did not ask San Diego to tolerate high crime rates, but we do not know any evidence that yellow lights are more conducive to crime than white light.
A 1980 survey by the National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice concluded that "while there is no statistically significant evidence that street lights can affect the level of crime, there are strong indications that increased lighting--
Maybe even lighting-
Reduce fear of crime.
"Losing the battle in New York, the lights don't seem to be widely used outside of California, although statistics are not readily available.
In New York City, for example
Astronomers at Columbia University, which has a considerable telescope, say pressure sodium is the standard and "gave up fighting many years ago"
Joseph Patterson, professor of astronomy
Light pollution is increasingly forcing the major observatory to shift resources from the continental United States to darker places, including the mountainous areas in northern Chile.
"Light pollution in Santa Cruz and other communities in California is one of the reasons why we decided to transfer most of our support to the Mountain Observatory in Mauna Kea, Hawaiian island," said Dr. Stan E.
Rick Observatory in Woolsley.
Although light pollution is degenerating astronomy in California, it seems that some other states are still sticking to that view. Dr.
David Crawford of the National Observatory at kitefeng, Arizona, said that the Tucson Municipal Government and other nearby communities are using low
The pressure sodium is illuminated and a protective cover is placed on the outdoor light.
Hawaii also has strict restrictions on outdoor lighting to protect the Mauna Kea Observatory.
Light pollution does not necessarily hinder all forms of optical astronomy, a huge old telescope exposed to the lights of Pasadena, California
New life may have been gained.
In the 1917,100 it was commissioned-
Mount Wilson inch telescope near Pasadena (
Affectionately called "100-inch")
Began an amazing career of observation, reshaping the understanding of the universe.
Edwin Hubble and his colleagues used 100 in 1930s-
In their historical discoveries, the universe is expanding.
But by 1985, the lights in Pasadena had blown out the sky, so much so that the Carnegie Institute in Washington decided to close 100. inch.
However, in 1989, astronomers and other 100-
Inches created the Mount Wilson Institute and started collecting donations to get the great telescope back to work. Dr.
Robert jastero, director of the Institute, said he hoped the goal would be achieved by July.
Advertising "in the neighborhood near Mount Wilson, the light from incandescent lamps will continue to prevent deep
Observed by 100-space
He said, "but we can still do important work on objects in our own galaxy ---
Look for the planetary system, for example.
"The problem of radio interference with visible light is just one of the plagues of astronomy.
Another reason is the increasing smog of global radio interference.
As astronomers become increasingly concerned with objects that are far away from the Earth, they must focus on the spectrum part of the radio waves.
Because the universe is expanding, the light from a distant object to Earth has undergone a Doppler shift, similar to the drop in the sound tone of the train whistle from the listener.
The decline of distant objects on Earth transfers visible light to lower frequencies within the radio range, so radio telescopes are becoming more and more important to astronomy.
But radio interference has increased dramatically in recent decades.
According to the doctor, powerful commercial radio stations sometimes work closely with radio telescopes to avoid washing off signals from distant space, but this is a more serious problemA.
Richard Thompson of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Va charlottsville.
It is a radio haze made of small household appliances.
"What many laymen take for granted has caused us a lot of trouble," he said . ".
Such as welding machine, car computer and ignition system, fluorescent lamp, electric motor, etc.
And then there's radio and stuff.
Operate the garage door opener.
"The contradiction is," Dr.
Thompson said, "it is easier for us to identify and compensate a large number of radio pollution sources compared to weak wireless power sources.
The weak signal is mixed in the radio background and it is difficult to separate the weak signal from the space we are looking.
"What will happen in the future?
"We're worried about a lot of things we see ---
For example, a mobile phone system that will directly pass through a galaxy of 77 communication satellites.
"I think if we want to continue doing astronomy, we may end up being chased to the moon . "Thompson said.
A version of this article appears on page C00001, the national edition, in May 4, 1993, with the title: City Lights and space ads can blind stars.