Bane of Suburban Astronomy

[Hans Tucker (Hans)]

Driving down the street I see the bane of suburban Astronomers has made an appearance....Christmas Lights adorning the houses along the street...the numbers just keep increasing every year and they are leaving them on all night.

[lazjen (Chris)]

I'm at the point that the base level of light pollution in the cities is so bad that, if that's not being dealt with anyway, then Xmas lights aren't any worse than the other sources - like the obnoxious misdirected/unshielded streetlights that are also on all night...

[Hans Tucker (Hans)]

The light pollution is a compounding issue in Melbourne. The neighbour across the road leave his porch light on all night...why?? These christmas lights are just a further annoyance and they are putting them up earlier each year and taking them down later. I remember when visiting a mate back in Perth in the suburb of Ellenbrook I could see the LMC & SMC clearly as naked eye targets from his front lawn even with the street lights but here in the western suburb of Melbourne I can not see these targets. Apologies to those sick of the whinging.

[renormalised (Carl)]

Got to remember, Hans, Melbourne is more than 3 times larger than Perth and correspondingly has much greater light pollution. The light dome above Melbourne is much brighter and deeper, hence you're going to see less.

[Ric]

I used to remember living in the burbs, apart from the lights of the neighbours on al night, the couple behind us had two teenage daughters.

I'm not sure if the stand up barney's and screaming were a source of amusement or a distraction.

[Lee]

Originally Posted by Hans Tucker

The neighbour across the road leave his porch light on all night...why??

He must be loaded - who can afford to leave lights on all night these days??

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

No offense to caring owners of man's best friend, but one of our neighbours lets theirs out at 9pm and it barks for the entire hour before they let it back in. Every night

[Stardrifter_WA]

Originally Posted by Camelopardalis

No offense to caring owners of man's best friend, but one of our neighbours lets theirs out at 9pm and it barks for the entire hour before they let it back in. Every night

I had the same problem but kept a diary for a week, gave the information to the council ranger, and then didn't hear it again for awhile. It started again, so contacted the ranger again and haven't heard from it since, and that was nearly a year ago. Don't know what happened to the mutt, but I am glad I don't have to listen to its constant barking any more.

I don't have a problem with dogs that bark, it is just the ones that don't stop and they are, mostly, the little "yappy" dogs.

As for caring owners, that is BS, as they aren't very caring if they cannot control their dogs. They certainly don't care about their neighbours. They just turn their music or TV up so that they don't have to listen to it.

[Baddad (Marty)]

Back in good old late '69 I had to walk home from the girlfriend's home at 2AM. No street lights on after 1:00 AM.
It was so dark I could not tell what street I was on. I could not see the street signs. I waited for a car to illuminate the sign. It took about 4 hrs to walk home.

From West Beach to West Hindmarsh (Adelaide)

That was Christmas time. No lights any where. No street lights or christmas lights. The sky was a mass of white. I have not seen the sky like that since except in dark country areas.

The Times, They are a Changin'

[leon]

Wow Marty, that is impressive, beautiful starlit skies, for an obviously lucky young lady.

Leon

[Hans Tucker (Hans)]

Originally Posted by Baddad

Back in good old late '69 I had to walk home from the girlfriend's home at 2AM. No street lights on after 1:00 AM.
It was so dark I could not tell what street I was on. I could not see the street signs. I waited for a car to illuminate the sign. It took about 4 hrs to walk home.

From West Beach to West Hindmarsh (Adelaide)

That was Christmas time. No lights any where. No street lights or christmas lights. The sky was a mass of white. I have not seen the sky like that since except in dark country areas.

The Times, They are a Changin'

I remember a couple of years ago when I was doing one of my Melbourne-Canberra-Melbourne trips in a day. Heading back after dropping my NJP mount to a friend to use for a few weeks I stopped at a rest stop a couple hours out of Melbourne, turned all lights off and let my eyesight adjust. My god the sky just filled with stars to the point you would loose sight of the easily recognised constellations. Truly how many city dwellers have seen such a sight....very few I would guess.