Well Thank You Council

[smudgeball]

Hi all

I came home tonight and all the old orange street lights heads have been replaced with downward facing LED ?? type white lights.

They illuminate the road and pavement but the top half of the house is really dark and my garden even darker !

Just need a way to disconnect a few of the irritating security lights that come on and I'll be sorted.

Neil

[Digz]

It's good to hear the change in lighting seems to be having a positive effect!

As for the security lights can you shield them in anyway?

[smudgeball]

I get on with my neighbours so it's not that bad, just pop round and remind them.

It's just the fact that they stay on all the time and serve no real purpose.

But I'm REALLY pleased with the difference in the back garden....................might even sell my clip filter   or maybe not.

Neil

[FunkyKoval35]

I am afraid it is not good news for you. If they are LED street lamps this is beginning of end of your astrophotography. The problem is that light from old(orange) street lamps gives light, mainly, in sodium wavelength and can be reduced by using LP filters, or completely blocked by using narrow-band filters. Unfortunately, LEDs street lamps emits light in full spectrum...

[John]

We have just had the same change of stree lighting here. I'm hoping for darker skies as a result

Funny how you get used to that orange glow though. The white light seems a little odd by comparison. I guess we will get used to that in time.

[Digz]

I am afraid it is not good news for you. If they are LED street lamps this is beginning of end of your astrophotography. The problem is that light from old(orange) street lamps gives light, mainly, in sodium wavelength and can be reduced by using LP filters, or completely blocked by using narrow-band filters. Unfortunately, LEDs street lamps emits light in full spectrum...

This is true, but if there is virtually no light spill above the lamp and the skies are darker then there is no need to filter

That is assuming a good install and luminaire design.

[happy-kat]

I guess it depends how far away you are from them for me the change to LED far worse eye adaptation none existent and so close can't see over them and have 3 that surround my front patch ranging from 50 feet, 25 feet and 20 meters away.

[smudgeball]

Just read an article on the roll out and it looks like they will be dimming them later at night.

All I can say is that my garden is noticeably darker now than it was before and all the light shines down to the street non of it illuminates the side of my house as before.

I can make out a lot more in the night sky.

Will see what my next image is like.

Neil

[Mr Spock]

My area will be done by the end of February. I've already had a walk round to see where all the little white painted box marks are. Bad news is they are 6M tall which is higher than the orange ones, good news is none will be shining on to my observing patio

[DaveS]

LED isn't a total wipe-out for AP, it just means you'll have to go NB with a cooled CCD and chose your targets carefully. Emission nebulae rather than galaxies.

[Tonk]

Yup your *local* environment on the ground may appear darker due to better light shielding but the **ground reflected** light is better scattered because of the high blue proportion (blue light scatters much much further than red/orange light) . This affects a wider area around the city especially for those just outside.

My dark sky site near Ripon is suffering after the Leeds white light changeover a few years back - its 30 miles north of Leeds but the Leeds/Harrogate light dome is now taller and whiter in the south section of the sky - noticeable up to 0 lat.  Before the change over my SQM was reading 21.00 on moonless nights - now over the last few years its best has been 20.77 which is considerably brighter - but still mostly good

Now Ripon (5 miles away) is starting to go white LED in 2015 so I'm apprehensive that my eastern sky is also going to degrade. West  -> North is still superb as I have the whole of a mountainous bit of the  Yorkshire Dales National Park running into the Lake District keeping that bit dark  

[CharlesW]

I guess I'll always be Mr Irony when these posts come up. As astronomers we want the world to shut off their porch lights, security lights, street lights, but we think nothing of getting into our automobiles at night to drive around with impunity, no matter how unimportant the purpose. Most car headlights are only slightly dimmer than security lights and maybe more so when set to bright. They just happen to attached to the front of an astonomer's car.

[Tonk]

I will point out I drive to my dark sky site at daytime - and I stay there until the sun comes up - possibly even stay for several days ----- its got a caravan attached  

Its also ironic that the number of astronomers who are driving around at night are a mere tiny tiny fraction of the hoards of lorries driving all through the night on the A1 not far from me. We need a lot more astronomers to have an adverse effect on each other

[Digz]

Yup your *local* environment on the ground may appear darker due to better light shielding but the **ground reflected** light is better scattered because of the high blue proportion (blue light scatters much much further than red/orange light) . This affects a wider area around the city especially for those just outside.

I didn't think of that.