re vandalizing the sky in rls aj access digex net prb access digex com pat writes planes ruin the night sky blimps ruin the night sky radio towers ruin the night sky like i said get a vote and create some more national parks which include onobstructed air space you should have heard prof mcnally from my days as an astronomy undergraduate denouncing photon pollution it was easy to imagine him taking practical steps to modify the sodium lamps on the street outside mill hill observatory with a gauge shotgun however seriously it is possible to limit the effects of streetlights by adding a reflector so that the light only illuminates the ground which is after all where you need it as a bonus the power consumption required for a given illumination level is reduced strangely enough astronomers often seek to lobby elected local authorities to use such lighting systems with considerable success in the desert areas around the major us observatories at least thats what mcnally told us all those years ago british local authorities couldn t care less as far as i can see i suppose that the right to dark skies is no more than an aspiration but it is a worthwhile one illuminated orbital billboards seem especially yukky and are presumably in the area of international law if any although i do find the idea of a right to bear anti satellite weapons intriguing peter card joint european torus abingdon oxfordshire ox ea uk tel fax email pjc jet uk or compuserve it wasnt me it was the others they made me do it disclaimer please note that the above is a personal view and should not be construed as an official comment from the jet project
