Coronavirus = darker skies?!

[HunterHarling]

With all the nearby casinos closed my sky has gotten darker in some parts. Some areas of the sky are at least 1 bortal scale darker while it seems as though the whole sky is ~.5 bortal darker! The clouds in my northeastern sky are dark grey now while last month they were light grey.

At least this is one good outcome from the virus.

Has everyone else noticed darkening as well?

[happy-kat]

Apart from distinct reduction in planes as under the Gatwick flight path sadly local street light has not been reduced at all, I still had a very orange glow image when I took one last week in the garden.

This would save councils valuable money at this time. 

[Stu]

Well I’m into my second week of lovely clear skies, had loads of sessions on the Moon recently so that is, I’m sure, related to fewer planes flying.

[John]

12 minutes ago, Stu said:

Well I’m into my second week of lovely clear skies, had loads of sessions on the Moon recently so that is, I’m sure, related to fewer planes flying.

I was thinking just the same last night.

 

[Rob]

Certainly a change for me being on the outskirts of the City. Less pollution, less lights and virtually no planes from Southampton Airport (was 80% flybe)

[Guest]

Not where I live, it's still as light polluted as ever.

[Guest]

At least the air pollution levels have dropped, I would think.  Less boy racers too, so noise pollution is down too!👍

[JamesF]

I might find plausible the suggestion that significantly lower levels of particulates in the air might reduce light scattering and thereby lower light pollution.

I can see that the same idea might apply in the case of aircraft not releasing water vapour high in the atmosphere which might therefore contribute to better seeing and perhaps fewer clouds.  Whether they actually produce enough to make a difference measurable to the amateur however is a different question.  I hope someone suitably qualified is researching these things so we can eventually find out.

Notwithstanding the loss of employment which would of course be a significant problem, I have to admit that I would very happily see a lot of international air traffic just disappear when this is all over.  I struggle to believe that's particularly likely however.

James

[Stu]

19 minutes ago, JamesF said:

I might find plausible the suggestion that significantly lower levels of particulates in the air might reduce light scattering and thereby lower light pollution.

I can see that the same idea might apply in the case of aircraft not releasing water vapour high in the atmosphere which might therefore contribute to better seeing and perhaps fewer clouds.  Whether they actually produce enough to make a difference measurable to the amateur however is a different question.  I hope someone suitably qualified is researching these things so we can eventually find out.

Notwithstanding the loss of employment which would of course be a significant problem, I have to admit that I would very happily see a lot of international air traffic just disappear when this is all over.  I struggle to believe that's particularly likely however.

James

Not scientific at all, but I can clearly see a reduction in (actually an absence of) high level vapour trails which seed haze and high level cloud. It is quite a dramatic difference to the transparency. Seeing has been pretty rubbish though.

Normally we don’t notice planes when they are relatively low as we live near Heathrow, but now the occasional one that passes does take us by surprise!

[JamesF]

5 minutes ago, Stu said:

Not scientific at all, but I can clearly see a reduction in (actually an absence of) high level vapour trails which seed haze and high level cloud. It is quite a dramatic difference to the transparency. Seeing has been pretty rubbish though.

Normally we don’t notice planes when they are relatively low as we live near Heathrow, but now the occasional one that passes does take us by surprise!

Yes, you are probably in a better position to notice that than I am because we don't get a huge amount of air traffic passing overhead in the first place.  Not to mention the fact that the sky has so rarely been clear over the last six months that I have no idea what "normal" really is any more.

James

[SteveWolves]

Does anybody remember the year at Lucksall when the Icelandic volcano grounded flights I feel there were clearer skies then.

[haitch]

9 minutes ago, SteveWolves said:

Does anybody remember the year at Lucksall when the Icelandic volcano grounded flights I feel there were clearer skies then.

Lol, I remember dropping everything and driving 1,500 miles to Mojacar in South East Spain to pick up my stranded wife and kids from the in-laws - incidentally all that time it was raining down there so I'm not sure the flights being grounded were the cause of clear skies.

(and I can pronounce Eyjafyallajokull)

Edited April 1, 2020 by haitch

[HunterHarling]

12 hours ago, Rob said:

Certainly a change for me being on the outskirts of the City. Less pollution, less lights and virtually no planes from Southampton Airport (was 80% flybe)

I'm on the outskirts of a city and I have seen LP levels drop as well. Maybe that has something to do with it?

 

11 hours ago, JamesF said:

I might find plausible the suggestion that significantly lower levels of particulates in the air might reduce light scattering and thereby lower light pollution.

This might be true. Car exhaust and factory pollution should be down quite a bit.

[Ships and Stars]

It's bound to have an overall reduction on LP, how much is another matter dependent upon your local 'built' environment. In large urban areas the reduction might not be readily apparent due to street lights, etc but some large businesses or properties may have reduced light output and vastly reduced numbers of cars on the road can't hurt, but in more suburban/rural areas or adjacent to large industry that's quiet, it's perhaps that much darker as to be noticeable.

I think the main advantage as mentioned above is greatly increased transparency though reduced contrails, jet and vehicle emissions and perhaps lower factory emissions. Less aerosols, particulates etc in the atmosphere.

There have been quite a few articles comparing NOx levels to last year, and many urban areas globally have seen dramatic drops this year. Strangely, Bristol and environs were seeing higher levels than last year, while the east coast of the UK showed the largest reductions, perhaps this was due to prevailing winds when the quoted measurements were taken this year. We had easterly winds at the time coming off the North Sea, so presumably other areas in the SW have cleared up now as well.

A bittersweet experiment really!

 

[noah4x4]

With more people staying at home, light pollution seems to have increased in my locality. We have more people leaving on external lights to assist delivery drivers and some have even rigged up Christmas lights to "cheer up folk".

However, a positive is the reduction in aircraft. I live under an area used for Stansted, Gatwick and Heathrow routes and stacking. I used to think it was whispy cloud that blighted me on clear nights. Then increasingly came to realise it was layer upon layer of con-trails.

 

 

[Knight of Clear Skies]

Down in Cornwall, we equalled our best SQM reading of 21.88 the other night, and there have been lots of readings over 21.6.

[Dr Strange]

Light pollution in Los Angeles isn't reduced all that much but the lack of traffic is fantastic! Both in terms of headlights on my street (when I observe from the driveway) and in terms of traffic overall on the freeways and roads. It is like it was in the 1980's...

[tomato]

I read a news item (I have no idea how true it may be)that power distribution could be at risk in certain areas of the UK due to staff sickness/self isolation. 
 

Make sure your portable power supplies are fully charged, there may be a dramatic improvement in sky darkness, albeit for unfortunate reasons.

[laser_jock99]

They probably can't turn the street lights off at night. The generation 'system' needs a 'load'.............

[Scosmico]

On 02/04/2020 at 18:33, tomato said:

I read a news item (I have no idea how true it may be)that power distribution could be at risk in certain areas of the UK due to staff sickness/self isolation. 
 

Make sure your portable power supplies are fully charged, there may be a dramatic improvement in sky darkness, albeit for unfortunate reasons.

Hi, that is just not true. Just a sensationalist newspaper article.

[jonathan]

The nearby golf range no longer has their floodlights on half of the night, though with lighter evenings and summer approaching the impact of that will be less noticeable.  I think the sudden clear skies night after night seems like too much of a coincidence after most air traffic (and cars too) ceased around the world.  It hasn't been 100% clear and transparent all of the time here, perhaps it will take longer for all of the pollution etc to dissipate, we will see what happens.

[FaDG]

On 02/04/2020 at 01:22, Ships and Stars said:

In large urban areas the reduction might not be readily apparent due to street lights, etc but some large businesses or properties may have reduced light output and vastly reduced numbers of cars on the road can't hurt,

Luckily, I can confirm a significant improvement shooting from the centre of Rome, mostly due to reduced street traffic, IMO. The air just smells cleaner too. 

This is a WIDEBAND (IDAS D1) shot of M81 and M82 from my place: nothing to write home about (well, also bacause I'm already at home! 🤣), but this wasn't possible before COVID19 outbreak. Been there, seen that. 

 

Edited April 5, 2020 by FaDG