Abstract
Astronomers undertake research by observing the universe to collect relevant data, which they analyse to deduce a model for the physical state of the objects observed. This enables them to make informed deductions about the origin and future evolution of planets, stars, galaxies and other astronomical bodies. Historically, these observations were made by ground-based astronomers using optical telescopes. Indeed, this has been the case for four centuries since Galileo Galilei first used a telescope for astronomy in 1609.
The views of the author are the authors’ alone and are intended to provide commentary and general information, and do not represent the views of any organisation. This chapter should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional legal advice or for any other purpose.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The brightness of stars as seen by an observer on Earth is specified by their apparent magnitude. The brightest stars in the sky are about magnitude zero (a few have negative magnitudes), while the faintest just visible to the naked eye on a clear moonless night are at about magnitude 6–6.5. The fainter the star, the larger the magnitude will be.
- 2.
These two parameters are closely related.
- 3.
The numbers in Table 7.1’s final column are approximate.
- 4.
It is important to note that the limiting magnitude depends on many factors in addition to light pollution. These include sky transparency, phase and position of the Moon, time since sunset or before sunrise, age of the observer and whether complete eye dark adaptation has occurred. All these factors combined make star counts, or estimating the limiting magnitude, a very crude indicator of light pollution.
- 5.
This might be several times greater for a higher power rating.
- 6.
These conditions are optimal for astronomers working in the darkest of observing sites.
- 7.
Where mV stands for the apparent magnitude in the V-filter band.
- 8.
- 9.
- 10.
The coordinates of the centre of the reserve are about 44 degrees south and 170.3 degrees east (AMIDSR, 2020).
- 11.
Having the legal status of a charity, and the tax exemptions that come with this, assists with the running of many events and activities.
- 12.
These figures do not apply to the coronavirus pandemic year of 2020.
- 13.
The telescope was formerly at the University of Pennsylvania before coming to New Zealand in 1963.
- 14.
The correlated colour temperature (CCT) of a light source is the temperature of a radiating black body that presents the same apparent colour to the human eye as the light source.
- 15.
In Spanish it is known as la Fundación Starlight.
- 16.
A useful list is found at Wikipedia (2020c).
- 17.
The diffraction rings and Airy disk of a point-like star are an artefact of the wave nature of light on entering an aperture such as a telescope. In turbulent air at low altitude observatories these fine features are normally washed out in a blurred image.
- 18.
It is important to note that the analysis presented in this chapter has been simplified. This is because the so-called photon noise is not the only source of noise present in astronomical observations. A modern digital camera (often a charge-coupled device) will also have readout noise (when the stored image is readout and digitized to a computer) and thermal noise (arising from the thermal accumulation of a spurious signal within the camera chip itself). The analysis of these additional noise sources is beyond the scope of this chapter, except to note that for long exposures on faint objects, photon noise normally dominates.
- 19.
- 20.
This corresponds to bn of 8.61 × 107 visual photons cm−2 s−1 sr−1, or 252 μcd m−2.
- 21.
The standard reference on the ecological effects of light pollution is compiled in a book by Rich and Longcore (2006), with comprehensive sections on mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, invertebrates and plants.
- 22.
In 2013 the Israeli scientists Abrahim Haim and Boris Portnov wrote a book with the title Light Pollution as a new Risk Factor for Human Breast and Prostate Cancers (Haim & Portnov, 2013).
References
Altschuler, W. (2019, August 31). Is astrotourism the next big thing?Incredible nighttime outdoor adventures for stargazers. Forbes. Retrieved March 16, 2020, https://www.forbes.com/sites/wendyaltschuler/2019/08/31/is-astrotourism-the-next-big-thing-incredible-nighttime-outdoor-adventures-for-stargazers/#7985155951d3
Andersen, J., Baneke, D. M., & Madsen, C. (2019). The International Astronomical Union: Uniting the community for 100 years. Springer.
Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve. (2020). History of the reserve. Retrieved March 2, 2020, www.darkskyreserve.org.nz
AstronomItaly. (2020). Astronomitaly. https://www.astronomitaly.com/
Blask, D., Brainard, G., Gibbons, R., Lockley, S., Stevens, R., & Motta, M. (2012). Report 4 of the council on science and public health. American Medical Association. https://circadianlight.com/images/pdfs/newscience/American-Medical-Association-2012-Adverse-Health-Effects-of-Light-at-Night.pdf
Bortle, J. E. (2001). Introducing the Bortle dark-sky scale. Sky & Telescope, 126–129.
Brainard, G. C., Hanifin, J. P., Greeson, J. M., Byrne, B., Glickman, G., Gerner, E., & Rollag, M. D. (2001). Action spectrum for melatonin regulation in humans: Evidence for a novel circadian photoreceptor. The Journal of Neuroscience, 21(16), 6405–6412. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.21-16-06405.2001
Brainard, G. C., Stevens, R., & Motta, M. (2016). American Medical Association CSAPH Report 2-A-16.
Cain, P. (2010). Slovenia takes a dim view of light pollution. Retrieved September 8, 2010, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-11220636
Cayrel, R., Graham-Smith, F., Fisher, A. J., & de Boer, J. B. (1980). Guidelines for minimizing urban sky glow near astronomical observatories. http://cie.co.at/publications/guidelines-minimizing-urban-sky-glow-near-astronomical-observatories-joint-publication
Chang, K. (2019, May 23). SpaceX launches 60 Starlink satellites into orbit. The New York Times. Retrieved December 20, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/23/science/spacex-launch.html
Cinzano, P., Falchi, F., & Elvidge, C. D. (2001). The first world atlas of artificial night sky brightness. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 328(3), 689–707. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-8711.2001.04882.x
Crawford, D. L., & Hunter, T. B. (1990). The battle against light pollution. Sky & Telescope, 23–29.
De la Paz Gomez, F., Sanhueza, P., & Diaz Castro, J. (2010). Practical guide for outdoor lighting: Efficient lighting and control of light pollution.. The Starlight Foundation.
European Space Agency. (2020). Space debris by the numbers. Retrieved December 20, 2020, https://www.esa.int/Safety_Security/Space_Debris/Space_debris_by_the_numbers
Falchi, F., Cinzano, P., Duriscoe, D., Kyba, C. C. M., Elvidge, C. D., Baugh, K., Portnov, B. A., Rybnikova, N. A., & Furgoni, R. (2016). The new world atlas of artificial night sky brightness. Science Advances, 2(6). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1600377
Flammarion, C. (1880). Astronomie populaire. C. Marpon et E. Flammarion.
Fosbury, E., Turtle, A., & Black, M. (1992). Astronomical light pollution by artificial Earth satellites. ESO Messenger, 67, 53–56.
Fundacion Starlight. (2007). The starlight declaration in defence of the night sky and the right to starlight.
Fundacion Starlight. (2020). Fundacion Starlight. https://www.fundacionstarlight.org/en/index.php
Gershgorn, D. (2015, August 17). Samsung wants to blanket the Earth in satellite internet. Popular Science. Retrieved March 13, 2020, https://www.popsci.com/samsung-wants-launch-thousands-satellites-bring-everyone-earth-internet/
Gooley, J. J., Rajaratnam, M. W., Brainard, G. C., Kronauer, R. E., Czeisler, C. A., & Lockley, S. W. (2010). Spectral responses of the human circadian system depend on the irradiance and duration of exposure to light. Science Translational Medicine, 2(2), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.3000741
Graham-Smith, F. (1977). Report and recommendations of commission 50. The International Astronomical Union.
Haim, A., & Portnov, B. A. (2013). Light Pollution as a new risk factor for human breast and prostate cancers. Springer.
Hart, A. (2018, July 11). The rise of astrotourism: Why your next adventure should include star-gazing. The Telegraph. Retrieved March 16, 2020, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/comment/astrotourism-new-sustainable-travel-trend/
Haworth, D. (2003). How many stars you can observe. Retrieved February 23, 2020, http://www.stargazing.net/david/constel/howmanystars.html
Henry, C. (2019a, October 15). SpaceX submits paperwork for 30,000 more Starlink satellites. Space News. Retrieved December 20, 2020, https://www.spacenews.com/spacex-submits-paperwork-for-30000-more-starlink-satellites/
Henry, C. (2019b, March 13). Telesat LEO manufacturing decision bumped to 2020. Space News. https://spacenews.com/telesat-leo-manufacturing-decision-bumped-to-2020/
House of Commons Science and Technology Committee. (2003). Light pollution and astronomy. Seventh report of session 2002–03. The Stationery Office Ltd. https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200203/cmselect/cmsctech/747/747.pdf
Humanity Star. (2018). http://www.thehumanitystar.com/. Accessed 12 Mar 2020.
Hunter, T. (2013, February 8). A story on the founding of IDA. Astronomers Without Borders. Retrieved March 2, 2020, https://astronomerswithoutborders.org/dark-skies-awareness-blog/2390-a-story-on-the-founding-of-ida.html
Institute of Lighting Professionals. (2020). Guidance note for the reduction of obtrusive light. Retrieved March 10, 2020, https://www.theilp.org.uk/documents/guidance-note-1-for-the-reduction-of-obtrusive-light-2020/
International Astronomical Union. (2019, June 3). IAU statement on satellite constellations. Retrieved March 31, 2020, https://www.iau.org/news/announcements/detail/ann19035/
International Astronomical Union. (2020a). International Astronomical Union. https://www.iau.org/
International Astronomical Union. (2020b). Understanding the impact of satellite constellations on astronomy [Press release]. Retrieved March 2, 2020, https://www.iau.org/news/pressreleases/detail/iau2001/
International Commission on Illumination. (1997). Guidelines for minimizing sky glow. http://cie.co.at/publications/guidelines-minimizing-sky-glow
International Dark-Sky Association. (2019, May 29). Response to SpaceX Starlink low Earth orbit satellite constellation. Retrieved March 13, 2020, https://www.darksky.org/starlink-response/
International Dark-Sky Association. (2020a). International dark-sky places. Retrieved December 20, 2020, https://www.darksky.org/our-work/conservation/idsp/International
International Dark-Sky Association. (2020b). Light pollution wastes energy and money. Retrieved March 16, 2020, https://www.darksky.org/light-pollution/energy-waste/
International Dark-Sky Association. (2020c). Who we are. Retrieved March 2, 2020, https://www.darksky.org/about/
Lamp Spectral Power Distribution Database. (2020). Lamp spectral power distribution database. http://galileo.graphycs.cegepsherbrooke.qc.ca/app/en/lamps.
Lamptech. (2011, November 11). Spectral properties of the sodium discharge. Retrieved March 9, 2020, http://www.lamptech.co.uk/Documents/SO%20Spectral.htm
Liu, H. (2019, June 10). AAS issues position statement on satellite constellations. American Astronomical Society. Retrieved March 13, 2020, https://aas.org/posts/news/2019/06/aas-issues-position-statement-satellite-constellations
Lockley, S. W., Brainard, G. C., & Czeisler, C. A. (2003). High sensitivity of the human circadian melatonin rhythm to resetting by short wavelength light. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 88(9), 4502–4505. https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2003-030570
Mackenzie District Council. (2020). District plan – Section 12 – Signs and outdoor lighting. Retrieved March 10, 2020, http://mackenzie.govt.nz/Site/Community/District_Plan.aspx
MarÃn, C., & Jafari, J. (2007). StarLight: A common heritage. Starlight Initiative. https://issuu.com/starlightinitiative/docs/starlightdoc1
Massey, R. (2019). RAS statement on Starlink satellite constellation [Press release]. Royal Astronomical Society. https://ras.ac.uk/news-and-press/news/ras-statement-starlink-satellite-constellation
Matsakis, L. (2018, July 20). Facebook confirms it’s working on a new internet satellite. WIRED. Retrieved March 13, 2020, https://www.wired.com/story/facebook-confirms-its-working-on-new-internet-satellite/
McDowell, J. C. (2020). The low Earth orbit satellite population and impacts of the SpaceX Starlink constellation. Astrophys Journal of Letters. Retrieved March 19, 2020, https://planet4589.org/space/papers/starlink20.pdf
McGowan, M. (2018, January 26). ‘Space graffiti’: astronomers angry over launch of fake star into sky. The Guardian. Retrieved March 12, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/26/space-graffiti-astronomers-angry-over-launch-of-fake-star-into-sky
Ministère de la Transition Ecologique et Solidaire. (2018). Arrêté du 27 décembre 2018 relatif à la prévention, à la réduction et à la limitation des nuisances lumineuses. Retrieved March 10, 2020, https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/eli/arrete/2018/12/27/TREP1831126A/jo/texte
Morgan-Taylor, M. (2015). Global approaches to light pollution legislation. Retrieved March 10, 2020, https://artificiallightatnight.weebly.com/uploads/3/7/0/5/37053463/morgan-taylor.pdf
Mosher, D. (2019, December 19). Amazon is building a giant factory to make internet satellites and compete with SpaceX. Business Insider Australia. Retrieved March 13, 2020, https://www.businessinsider.com.au/amazon-project-kuiper-satellite-internet-factory-redmond-washington-2019-12?r=US&IR=T
Pollard, N. E., van Bommel, W., Diaz Castro, J., Lecocq, J., Pong, B. -J., & Walking, A. (2017). Guide on the limitation of the effects of obtrusive light from outdoor lighting installations. International Commission on Illumination. http://cie.co.at/publications/guide-limitation-effects-obtrusive-light-outdoor-lighting-installations-2nd-edition
Rees, M. (2019, December 29). Beware of Elon Musk despoiling ‘the vault of heaven’. The Guardian. Retrieved March 13, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/29/be-wary-of-elon-musk-despoiling-the-vault-of-heaven
Rich, C., & Longcore, T. (2006). Ecological consequences of artificial night lighting. Island Press.
Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. (2012). The environmental impact of light pollution and its abatement. Retrieved March 10, 2020, http://www.rasc.ca/special-december-issue-%E2%80%9C-environmental-impact-light-pollution-and-its-abatement
Royal Society of New Zealand. (2018). Impacts of artificial blue light on health and the environment. Retrieved February 25, 2020, https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/assets/Uploads/Blue-light-Aotearoa-evidence-summary.pdf
Smyth, C. P. (1858). Teneriffe, an astronomer’s experiment: Or, specialities of a residence above the clouds. Lovell Reeve.
Smyth, C. P. (1863). The Teneriffe experiment of 1856, astronomical observations made at the Royal Observatory, XII, 401–510.
Spoelstra, H. (2002). A sky brightness nomogram. Dark Skies Awareness. Retrieved May 4, 2020, http://www.darkskiesawareness.org/nomogram.php
Sterken, C., Hearnshaw, J. B., & Vals-Gabaud, D. (Eds.). (2019). Under one sky: The IAU centenary symposium. Cambridge University Press.
Stimac, V. (2019). Dark skies: A practical guide to astrotourism. Lonely Planet.
Treanor, P. J. (1973). A simple propagation law for artificial night-sky illumination. The Observatory, 93, 117–120.
Tucson. (1972). Ordinance no. 3840, adopted by the Mayor and Council of the City of Tucson, Arizona, USA. 5 June 1972.
Vandernoot, E. (n.d.). Light pollution hurts our economy and our resources. Department of Physics, Florida Atlantic University. http://cescos.fau.edu/observatory/lightpol-econ.html
Walker, M. F. (1977). The effects of urban lighting on the brightness of the night sky. The Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 89(529), 405–409.
Welch, D. (Ed.). (2020). The world at night: Preserving natural darkness for heritage conservation and night sky appreciation. International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Dark Skies Advisory Group.
Wikipedia. (2020a). List of high-altitude observatories. Retrieved March 5, 2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest_astronomical_observatories
Wikipedia. (2020b). Iridium satellite constellation. Retrieved March 12, 2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium_satellite_constellation
Wikipedia. (2020c). List of astronomical observatories. Retrieved March 4, 2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_astronomical_observatories
Wikipedia. (2020d). OneWeb satellite constellation. Retrieved March 12, 2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OneWeb_satellite_constellation
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hearnshaw, J. (2022). Light Pollution as a Risk for Astronomical Research and How to Manage It. In: Pozza, M.A., Dennerley, J.A. (eds) Risk Management in Outer Space Activities. Space Law and Policy. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4756-7_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4756-7_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-16-4755-0
Online ISBN: 978-981-16-4756-7
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)