Groan, it’s finally happened

[RobertI]

One of my neighbours has finally gone and done it - after spending the last six months building a massive pergola, they have finally adorned it with the inevitable fairly lights, which are so bright they illuminate the back of their house. There is some hope as the gap through which they are visible is only about six feet wide, so a screen or even better a nice summer house would probably shield it, but the illuminated house would still be visible. Back to EAA I think...   

[Pixies]

Get some chickens and a cockerel!

[Chris]

Heart wrenching  

[Alan White]

I feel your pain, I have two big houses each side of me, they have 21 spot and floods pointing away from them, they all point my way into my property or sky.

You do adapt and get a work around, far better than getting angry or upset.

[TerryMcK]

That's why I do LP filtered astrophotography these days rather than visual as I did for many years. I rarely get the Dob out nowadays.

[david_taurus83]

10 hours ago, Pixies said:

Get some chickens and a cockerel!

Get some quail! The males are terrible! All bloody day they crow!

[JamesF]

26 minutes ago, david_taurus83 said:

Get some quail! The males are terrible! All bloody day they crow!

Peacocks

James

[RobertI]

I might just set my 5 year old son in them! 😁

Thanks for the reactions and responses - it certainly sounds like others have it much worse than me, so I guess I should count my blessings, at least I can block them. The lights did actually go off at around 10:30 so might not end up being too much of a nuisance, but I shall closely monitor. 
 

This has made me think about trying some trips to local dark sites....

Edited August 17, 2020 by RobertI

[barkis]

I can't understand why some folks have to drown their property in bright lighting 
during darkness.
Motion detection lights are fair enough, but their seeming penchant for 24 hours of daylight
is bordering on the ridiculous.
Besides, the lights create darker shadows which a would be Tea Leaf  can put to good use.
Ron.

Edited August 17, 2020 by barkis

[Alan White]

8 hours ago, barkis said:

Besides, the lights create darker shadows which a would be Tea Leaf  can put to good use.
Ron.

Ron, the lights are loved by thieves, no torches needed and they do not stand out lighting a darkened property with torches.
Just ask any Crime Prevention Officer to confirm this.
Security Lighting is a misnomer.

Edited August 17, 2020 by Alan White

[Slingshot]

Hi Brown Dwarf,

That must be a pain - sorry to hear. I take it you have gone around and asked them to perhaps compromise by turning them off on the times you can observe?

If so and no joy, then start having rave party all nighters!! 

S

[Tenor Viol]

Agree. Bright lights create deep shadows which are much easier to lurk in

[niallk]

I feel your pain - used to observe from my back garden and thanks to neighbours floodlights cann no longer do so.

For a while I even put a sun parasol on its side as a shade... then more lights went in...😫

[cloudsweeper]

You have my sympathy Rob.  I'm sure there are many of us suffering similarly.  My neighbours have just erected a conservatory with un-blinded windows facing my garden.  They also had a permanent "security light" which they turned off after a polite request, but they then proceeded to erect several lanterns at the bottom of their garden.

As others say, there's not much we can do except try to work around there inconveniences.

Doug.

[RobertI]

The lights are not on tonight. 🙂 I am hoping that either they are having a rethink, or this will not happen very often. They might also have heard my cries of anguish when I first saw the lights! They seem like nice people and I’m sure they would be reasonable if I went round and had a neighbourly chat about the problem, it’s just a shame to be forced to do it. To smooth the waters I could always offer to show them and their children a squint at Mars through the C8 (if I can think of a safe way to do it). 

[Alan White]

Rob, polite may work, as may an offer of a look at what you observe (clearly not so easy at present).
I tried this route but they were not interested in even listening, let alone helping.
It varies from person to person, fingers crossed for you on this one 🤞

[RobertI]

1 minute ago, Alan White said:

Rob, polite may work, as may an offer of a look at what you observe (clearly not so easy at present).
I tried this route but they were not interested in even listening, let alone helping.
It varies from person to person, fingers crossed for you on this one 🤞

Sorry to hear about your experiences with your neighbours Alan, nightmare scenario, I hope they move one day! I think for some people, us astronomers are aliens speaking and alien language, and they just don't have the capacity to grasp what we are about, even with the help of Brian Cox!

[Viktiste]

7 hours ago, Alan White said:

Ron, the lights are loved by thieves, no torches needed and they do not stand out lighting a darkened property with torches.
Just ask any Crime Prevention Officer to confirm this.
Security Lighting is a misnomer.

Totally agree with this.

[HutchStar]

I ordered my very first telescope a few weeks ago and the very same day I ordered it, my neighbour put up a motion sensor security light which can detect me in my own back garden and illuminates both my lawn and his. Unbelievable!

 

The good news is it only stays on for about 30 seconds and if I move veeeerrry sloowwwly I can avoid setting it off. You've got to laugh...!

[HutchStar]

21 hours ago, RobertI said:

I might just set my 5 year old son in them! 😁

Thanks for the reactions and responses - it certainly sounds like others have it much worse than me, so I guess I should count my blessings, at least I can block them. The lights did actually go off at around 10:30 so might not end up being too much of a nuisance, but I shall closely monitor. 
 

This has made me think about trying some trips to local dark sites....

That's great news if they turn them off. You may even find they dont bother turning them on during winter.

[jonathan]

In a twist of irony, I have new(ish) neighbours who normally are not active outside after dark and therefore do not have outside lights on (the previous owner seemed to leave a security light on well into the evening).

The irony is that a shed has been erected on what was my observing position, and then... one of those annoying solar-powered LED security lights that comes on at the first moth detection.  The silver lining is that I have located the on/off pinhole button, just need to add a map pin to my observing equipment!

[KenG]

Motion sensitive lights can be easily adjusted both for the distance at which they detect movement and the length of time they stay on. Speak to your neighbour about this and maybe the two of you can have a bit of fun getting them set to your mutual satisfaction. He/she might even fancy a look through your scope afterwards............could be the beginning of a great friendship??!!!

 

[ollypenrice]

Move to a country where neighbours are not compulsory!

😁lly

[RobertI]

10 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

Move to a country where neighbours are not compulsory!

😁lly

I have not ruled this out! 🙂