L E D street lightning

[Albir phil]

Hi here in Spain led lights are popping up everywhere.Has anyone out there got. any views or experience with the filters to try and combat this problem 

[Elp]

Yes. Don't go near them (the lights).

In all seriousness there are filters that supposedly block out LED light but as LED light tends to emit across a number of wavelengths of light it'll be muddled up amongst signal much like how the moon interferes when it's out. If youre imaging, using narrowband filters is the typical option but even o3 may get affected.

Edited June 24, 2023 by Elp

[StarDuke82]

As Elp said the best option is to stay away from the lights however if you can’t the I just purchased the Baader UHC Ultra L Booster filter because it blocks Led light in the blue part of the Spectrum and conventional street lighting, it’s a broadband filter that lets in OIII, and C2 lines between 501, 511 and 514 nm making it decent for viewing Planetary Nebulae but an OIII filter is better because it’s more refined line filter, however the UHC L does cut out  LED and Streetlight emissions as well as skyglow without dimming the star field too much and allows clear contrast views of the nebulae for what it is.

Edited June 25, 2023 by StarDuke82

[Albir phil]

Ok thanks for the info,I will have a look at the filters you mentioned 

[Elp]

There's the IDAS D range of filters designed to suppress LED, think they were replaced by the P range. Reading reviews though, they make minimal to no difference.

[alacant]

18 hours ago, Albir phil said:

combat this problem 

Hi

What problems are you having?

Cheers 

[Albir phil]

To be honest I wouldn't really know what kind of problem led may cause. The lights in my area have shade on the top so light is directed down,but some must be reflected up.Just thought it might wise to get a filter.Do you have any ideas on what problem they cause, I use a optolong L pro filter . Any thoughts would be appreciated 👍

 

 

[Elp]

You're kind of asking for a solution to a problem you are yet to self identify. The lpro generally will make little difference as they were designed before the major onset of led lighting, they are a general light pollution filter so will reduce some skyglow, old lamp light glow and also signal. Also are you imaging or doing visual, different filters for each task also depending on what you're looking at. Only you can make an assessment based on your local lighting conditions, distance from proximity, angle, height, your scope, dew shield provision, where your target is in the sky, all make a difference.

Edited June 26, 2023 by Elp

[Carbon Brush]

My experience of LED street lighting, near my home, is that they aren't too bad.
The fittings are well designed, shining down. Not scattering light all over, as the old sodium lights.
Yes they are bright and difficult to filter. But 'out of area' light is not too bad.
The problems come from ill designed and thoughtlessly installed lights on commercial and residential properties.

[wookie1965]

My experience of LED lighting is not so good. The second image is what they put on when I complained.

[Elp]

I have a similar light and proximity, limits the rising east to south targets.

[alacant]

19 hours ago, Albir phil said:

I wouldn't really know what kind of problem led may cause

Hi

Unless you're directly below one, I think you're going to be pleasantly surprised. The light-up-the-sky lamps of old have been replaced by well designed low energy versions. The moon is likely to form far more of a challenge.

Here's a worst case scenario; shot from around 10km north of Alicante a few days before San Juan. Yes, there's contamination, but hey, it's not bad.

... but with modern gradient removal algorithms, a few taps and you're ready to process.

If you really are troubled by this, you have access to a very low contamination zone looking south east over the Mediterranean: the beach😉

Cheers and HTH

 

Edited June 27, 2023 by alacant

[windjammer]

The LED lights are a menace.  Here in London we have had (yet another) Mayor's relighting program.  The new luminaires are a step backward - almost no outer lip to suppress side scatter.  Light is not in a downward cone but spreads to the horizontal and further upward.  The LEDs are very blue, so the light scatters in all directions more than a warmer colour temperature would (think why is the sky blue).  London night skies - never great - have become noticeably brighter in just the last couple of years.

The LED spectrum has phosphors to generate broad band emission so filtering is very difficult.  Narrowband imaging is still viable here, but a sensor histogram shows the light pollution step in only a few hundred seconds over a 1 degree fov.  I have had to move down from 600s narrowband exposures to 300s because of this - and this at the zenith.

Not enough fuss has been made about this in my view.  The night sky is being stolen from all of us, not just astronomers, by laziness, incompetence, carelessness and greed.  Don't get me started !

Simon

[Albir phil]

3 hours ago, alacant said:

Hi

Unless you're directly below one, I think you're going to be pleasantly surprised. The light-up-the-sky lamps of old have been replaced by well designed low energy versions. The moon is likely to form far more of a challenge.

Here's a worst case scenario; shot from around 10km north of Alicante a few days before San Juan. Yes, there's contamination:

... but with modern gradient removal algorithms, a few taps and you're ready to process.

If you really are troubled by this, you have access to a very low contamination zone looking south east over the Mediterranean: the beach😉

Cheers and HTH

 

Thanks now I know what to expect,most of my imaging is from north to the south east .Thanks for your reply and the imaging examples.