light pollution

May 10 Membership Meeting to feature Sky & Telescope editor

James Guilford , , , ,
Kelly-Beatty-casual_ss-1
Kelly Beatty

The May 10, 2021 membership meeting of the Cuyahoga Astronomical Association (CAA) will take place via the Zoom online service beginning at 7:30 p.m.

The evening’s speaker will be Kelly Beatty, Senior Editor of Sky & Telescope magazine, whose talk is entitled “Darkness in Distress”

Light pollution, simply put, is any unnecessary or excessive outdoor illumination. Sadly, it has become a pervasive and ugly consequence of modern 24/7 society. Light pollution robs us of the night sky’s beauty, negatively affects the ecosystem, and creates an in-your-face waste of energy. But a new mindset and new technology are poised to slow — and perhaps reverse — this bane of modern life. Learn how you can safely light up your home, business, and community without wasting energy, disturbing your neighbors, or creating an unhealthy environment for humans and wildlife.

Beatty has been explaining the science and wonder of astronomy to the public since 1974. An award-winning writer and communicator, he is a Senior Editor for Cambridge-based Sky & Telescope magazine. He enjoys sharing his passion for astronomy with a wide spectrum of audiences, from children to professional astronomers, and you’ll occasionally hear his interviews and guest commentaries on National Public Radio and The Weather Channel. He served for a decade on the Board of Directors for the International Dark-Sky Association.

Here are some websites Beatty recommends:

Globe at Night
https://www.globeatnight.org/

Dark Sky Map
https://www.darkskymap.com/

Light Pollution Map
https://lighttrends.lightpollutionmap.info/

International Dark-Sky Association
https://www.darksky.org/

 

Saving the Dark

James Guilford , , , , ,

Photo: An awe-inspiring night sky! The night sky could look like this in Northeastern Ohio if we would simply control our lighting. Image Credit: "Saving the Dark"
The night sky could look like this anywhere in Ohio if we would simply control our lighting. Image Credit: “Saving the Dark”

What do we lose when we lose sight of the stars? Excessive and improper lighting robs us of our night skies, disrupts our sleep patterns, and endangers nocturnal habitats. Saving the Dark explores the need to preserve or restore night skies and what we can all do to combat light pollution. This film will be shown October 5 & 6 at the Chagrin Documentary Film Festival

Click here for more information and to view the film’s trailer.

M42: The Great Orion Nebula

James Guilford , , , , , , , ,

Image: M42: The Great Orion Nebula, by Keven Tag.
M42: The Great Orion Nebula, by Keven Tag.

CAA member Keven Tag shared this lovely image of M42, the Orion Nebula, with us. His techniques and results are pretty advanced. Here’s what he said: “Thought I’d send this along. The skies were fairly clear last night {March 14} and I was able to get a nice shot of M42. This was captured from my Strongsville driveway so considering the amount of light pollution, results aren’t bad. It helps that it’s a nice bright target.” Technical stuff: a light pollution (Astronomik CLS-CCD) filter. Also, I use a modified Canon Rebel XSi which has the two native Canon filters removed. Here are some other details…. This was from a stack of (1600 ISO) Subs: Lights: 5X20, 5X40; Darks: 5X30; Flats: 5X30. Equipment and processing details — Mount: CGEM, Scope: Stellarvue SVR90, Camera: Canon XSi(Honis modified), Filter: Astronomik CLS-CCD, Mount Control: TheSkyX, Camera Control: BackYardEOS, Processing: Deep Sky Stacker.”