Betelgeuse & The Rutherford Appleton Lab

[chiltonstar]

Anyone wondering what the upcoming Betelgeuse supernova will look like should take a look at the Rutherford Appleton lab by night. The level of sodium lighting on the site and around is quite unbelievable.

For a space science lab (!) this is disappointing to say the least; it's also very bad news for the wildlife of the Ridgeway which is very close by.... particularly migrating birds and moths (see report yesterday in the Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/10084659/Fatal-attraction-moths-find-modern-street-lights-irresistible.html)

Chris

[Kropster]

Might have something to do with security?

[laser_jock99]

More like insecurity.

[gkec]

Anyone wondering what the upcoming Betelgeuse supernova will look like should take a look at the Rutherford Appleton lab by night. The level of sodium lighting on the site and around is quite unbelievable.

For a space science lab (!) this is disappointing to say the least; it's also very bad news for the wildlife of the Ridgeway which is very close by.... particularly migrating birds and moths (see report yesterday in the Telegraph http://www.telegraph...resistible.html)

Chris

Having worked at RAL I know that Space Science is just one department. Others being particle physics, nuclear physics, computational science to name a few. It has been there for at least 50 years so it is a bit late to start whinging now !

The space scince department doesn't do ground based optical work at the site, as the name suggests space science as in space. Most notably Cassini Huygens, Rosetta and Soho.

I suppose the Diamond synchrotron source might have quite bit of lighting as it is quite big, sort of football stadium size.

However the RAL site is not lit up more than the average housing estate so to compare it to a Betelguese supernova is just plain ridiculous