Streetlight pollution query

[Tommohawk]

Hi  All.

Recently moved house, and unfortunately had to make some hard choices - unfortunately astrophotography wasn't high on the list! 

The previous location had no direct lights to speak of, but no view to  the East at all, and limited view to  the South.

At new location the view is generally better - restricted to about 25 degrees to  the South which isn't great, but generally wouldn't image below that anyhow. According to "Clear outside" I have Mag 21.29 Class 4 0.33 brightness 159 artificial brightness, which  is in theory better than my previous location. However, I do have some streetlights to contend with and I'm still trying to asses the effect of this. They go off around midnight which is something but in the winter that means wasting 7 hours of imaging time, and suffering more dew and mist effects.

I cant help but wonder if the effects of streetlights aren't included in Clear Outside figures and LP maps generally because if the LP assessments are done after midnight the effect of the street lights wouldnt show?

Haven't done any imaging just yet, but trying tom make the most of the situation. Most of the lamps are sodium, but there is one bright LED right outside which is badly angled towards us by about 15 degrees to the horizontal which is a complete pain. The lamp housing seems to  be fixed to the pre-existing post, which must have had a sodium light on it originally. I've written to East Sussex highways asking them to change this because other LED lamps in the vicinity are mounted to a different type of post such that the LED is horizontal. I've stressed this is interfering with  our sleep - which  it does - and said nothing about astronomy. 

One problem is if they do remount it there will probably be more light spill toward the house opposite so that might not be popular. Partly with that in mind I've suggested a shroud/shield.  My initial inquiry was rebutted, but I've written again stressing duty of care etc. We will see. The street light is to the north so hopefully I can still do something more to the South. I haven't had a chance to do any imaging yet - main issue is my chosen spot has decking which is great for trampolining but not good for the mount. 

Anyhow, being practical I have a few questions.

1. If doing LRGB, the RGB filters seem to exclude the sodium lights, but L filters don't seem to. Does anyone make an L  filter with sodium block?  

2. At some point I'd like to do some test images - eg point to maximum elevation, do 10 shots before "lights out", and 10 after. Has anyone seen this done before? 

Thanks in advance for any input.

[Swoop1]

Stick with it hassling the council. I got  a shroud on a lamp at the second or third attempt.

[Tommohawk]

Just now, Swoop1 said:

Stick with it hassling the council. I got  a shroud on a lamp at the second or third attempt.

Great, that's really interesting. Did you cite ISO/EN standards etc or just generally give them grief - wondering what it was that made them act.

I've done a lot of searching on light shields/shrouds and couldn't find much - useful to know they do exist. I found one link where the response was that shrouds add windage issues and were considered a hazard. Seems a bit daft. Here are pics of the offending item - could have posted these initially I guess!

The angling doesn't look that  bad but it means we can see the underside of the housing from our windows. Our house is opposite.

[Swoop1]

Didn't quote anything just told them it was causing problems sleeping and enjoying my home.

[Tommohawk]

Ok great thanks 

[Swoop1]

Good luck!