Liddick: Save our night skies

To begin the New Year, a plea for conservation and for preservation of a precious natural resource. Over the past century in particular, this resource has been severely diminished and threatened, above all by pollution. At the present rate of contamination, it will soon disappear entirely.

The resource is a dark night sky. The pollutant is light, a byproduct of modern life so ubiquitous that we seldom give it a second thought. So as we begin the International Year of Astronomy, a caution: Let us consider what we are doing.

To understand why a dark sky is important, have a close look at it. Wait for a cloudless and moonless night. Go to the top of Hoosier Pass, or to a spot below the Summit of Loveland Pass on the Summit County side. Find a place shielded from the road, so you are not blinded by cars. Wait for your eyes to adapt to the dark; 10 minutes is about the minimum. Now, face south, and look up.

Behind and above you is Cassiopea, forming a perfect “M.” Sometimes it’s a “W,” or Greek “E” or even the Arabic number 4, depending on the season and time. Over your right shoulder is a large, nearly perfect rectangle, larger than your fist held at arm’s length. This is the great square of Pegasus. If the air is very stable and clear, and your eyesight very good, you might see a small bit of fluff slightly northeast of the square. That is the Great Nebula in Andromeda, a galaxy two million light-years distant. You are seeing it as it was before man was on Earth.

Directly ahead of you and halfway up the dome of night will be the Pleaides, a relatively young and nearby group of suns; eastward from it will be Orion, one of the oldest and most recognizable constellations. The dim fuzzy patch below his “belt” is the Great Nebula in Orion, a stellar nursery; its light began the journey to Earth around the time of Shakespere.

Threading through it all is a broad, dim band of light, running approximately east to northwest. This is our galaxy, seen edge-on: the Milky Way.

All of these sights, glorious as they are, are the merest hint of the skies our ancestors saw. We have earnestly labored to push back the night, and we are about to succeed. Soon no one will really understand what Homer or Ovid saw when they looked up; no one will understand why Milton or even Whitman described the night as they did. We will all be diminished by the loss.

Here in Summit County we have at least a chance to delay the inevitable. Our air is thin, dry and often very stable. If we can work to diminish the effects of light pollution, we may be able to reap the rewards of dark nighttime skies for decades to come. And while this would require coordinated efforts among the town and county governments to produce guidelines for diminishing light pollution, as well as some changes in people’s thinking and way of doing business, there is good news on both these fronts.

First, most of the research on light pollution and on effective ways to decrease or eliminate it is available online. The International Dark Skies Association maintains a website (www.darksky.org) which offers information on recent developments in lighting technology, current outdoor lighting codes, research on the effects of light pollution, methods of amelioration, and much more. Anyone with an interest in preserving the beauty of the night ought to pay a visit.

Second, most fixes for individual sources of light pollution are inexpensive and simple. Often they involve little more than enclosing outside lights to direct illumination where — and only where — you want it. Remember, any photon straying upward into the sky is a photon wasted.

Directional light enclosures have the added benefit of allowing lower-wattage lights, saving electricity in the bargain. And as our trees thin, the problem of light trespass — unwanted light pouring in from unshielded, omnidirectional lights on nearby properties — will become more acute. Shielded light fixtures, like fences, make good neighbors.

Commercial lighting is another story. Although the principles are the same as with a home, there seems to be a widespread belief that “more is better” here. A glimpse at nighttime Breckenridge from Ski Hill Road or at Dillon/Silverthorne from Ryan Gulch shows this very clearly. Perhaps both education and regulation will be necessary.

So by all means, get involved. Study the issue. Press your elected representatives. Do your bit, too; shield those lights and use fewer watts. If we work together, we can save the night — one of mankind’s greatest legacies.

While there’s still time.





Summit County resident Morgan Liddick pens a Tuesday column. E-mail him at mcliddick@hotmail.com. Also, comment on this column at www.summitdaily.com.