The previous nights were the occasion to see the Perseid meteor shower. It was also the Nuits des Etoiles in France, where hundreds of events are organized to allow people to watch stars and (re)discover the sky and stars above our heads. As you perhaps know, I am quite an astronomy fan and I believe […]
Animation : Borrowed light, by Olivia Huynh Read More »
You may perhaps remember the not so distant time when I was posting astrophotography pictures on this very website. I have also wrote a few times on how we are lighting up our cities too much. Now a fellow Frenchman, Thierry Cohen, created a series of pictures of what the night could look like if
Starry, Starry, Starry Night Read More »
Here is another post I wrote for Cleantechies, this time on energy conservation : ” Even after the election of François Hollande as President of France, an energy conservation measure of the previous government will be implemented.” ” The Sarkozy government wanted to require shops and offices to turn off their unnecessary lights at nights.
France unveils measures to decrease energy use Read More »
Too many lights in our cities at night is really bad for our economy as we waste electricity and thus money. It is also a bad idea for nocturnal animals, plants and amateur astronomers who need to go further and further to have a darker sky. Now, to a new American study, too many lights
Urban lights increase air pollution Read More »
I already wrote a few articles on dark skies and light pollution. It seems the phenomenon is even worse as one can see with the image on left (courtesy of Stellarium, a great astronomy freeware) This also has an important impact on greenhouse gases emissions. In Australia alone, public lightning is responsible for 1.15 million
For many, the sky isn’t dark anymore Read More »
The city of Barcelona and Spanish utility Endesa have been installing smart LED lightning systems that automatically switch themselves off when no one is around. This enables the city to cut by 30 percent its electricity consumption. I really would like this idea to spread across Europe and even the entire world. Indeed, how many
Barcelona’s amazing smart lightning idea Read More »
Earth Hour was a tremendous success as many people participated. Cities turned down the lights of their monuments and the pictures of the event are amazing and totally illustrate how much energy and money we could save. The Boston Globe proposed a series of 17 great pictures illustrating the phenomenon. Instead of turning down all
Pictures of Earth Hour: how we waste energy Read More »
Light pollution is a major problem for astronomers in most if not all countries (see map) . But for the International Year of Astronomy this may change with the following initiative. Globe at Night allows astronomers to easily assess the phenomenon with a series of charts. By watching the Orion Constellation, it is simple to
Assessing and ending light pollution Read More »
This week-end was held in Slovenia the seventh European Symposium for the protection of the night sky. This is the occasion to have a look at the lightning of our cities at night. As more lights mean more greenhouse gases emissions, we will have to reduce the amount of lightning to fight climate change. The
Let there be more light ? Read More »
