Related papers: Light pollution is skyrocketing
Megaconstellations of thousands to tens of thousands of artificial satellites (satcons) are rapidly being developed and launched. These satcons will have negative consequences for observational astronomy research, and are poised to…
Monitoring the evolution of the anthropogenic light emissions is a priority task in light pollution research. Among the complementary approaches that can be adopted to achieve this goal stand out those based on measuring the direct radiance…
Contrary to some widespread intuitive belief, the night sky brightness perceived by the human eye or any other physical detector does not come (exclusively) from high in the sky. The detected brightness is built up from the scattered…
Measuring the brightness of the night sky has become an increasingly important topic in recent years, as artificial lights and their scattering by the Earths atmosphere continue spreading around the globe. Several instruments and techniques…
Could we enjoy starry skies in our cities again? Arguably yes. The actual number of visible stars will depend, among other factors, on the spatial density of the overall city light emissions. In this paper it is shown that reasonably dark…
Artificial skyglow is constantly growing on a global scale, with potential ecological consequences ranging up to affecting biodiversity. To understand these consequences, worldwide mapping of skyglow for all weather conditions is urgently…
Over the past several decades, advances in telescope/detector technologies and deep imaging techniques have pushed surface brightness limits to ever fainter levels. We can now both detect and measure the diffuse, extended star light that…
We present the map of the artificial sky brightness in Europe in V band with a resolution of approximately 1 km. The aim is to understand the state of night sky pollution in Europe, to quantify the present situation and to allow future…
Results of the first comprehensive light pollution survey in Hong Kong are presented. The night-sky brightness was measured and monitored around the city using a portable light sensing device called the Sky Quality Meter over a 15-month…
Artificial Light At Night (ALAN) has been increasing steadily over the past century, particularly during the last decade. This leads to rising light pollution, which is known to have adverse effects on living organisms, including humans. We…
The high frequency of satellite launches, particularly over the last few years, has been a subject of significant concern, particularly relating to the future of observational astronomy, the stability of low Earth orbits, and environmental…
Nighttime monitoring of the aerosol content of the lower atmosphere is a challenging task, because appropriate reference natural light sources are lacking. Here we show that the anthropogenic night sky brightness due to city lights can be…
The transition from earlier lighting technologies to white light-emitting diodes (LEDs) is a significant change in the use of artificial light at night. LEDs emit considerably more short-wavelength light into the environment than earlier…
More than half of the volume of our Universe is occupied by cosmic voids. The lensing magnification effect from those under-dense regions is generally thought to give a small dimming contribution: objects on the far side of a void are…
Circa-monthly activity conducted by moonlight is observed in many species on Earth. Given the vast amount of artificial light at night (ALAN) that pollutes large areas around the globe, the synchronization to the circalunar cycle is often…
Recent optical observations have led to a significant progress in our understanding of galaxy formation and evolution. However, our view on the deep universe is currently limited to the starlight which directly escapes from high-redshift…
The observed extragalactic background light (EBL) is affected by light attenuation due to absorption of light by galactic and intergalactic dust in the Universe. Even galactic opacity of 10-20 percent and minute universe intergalactic…
If the background universe is observed through a significant amount of diffusely distributed foreground dust, then studies at optical wavelengths may be severely biased. Previous studies investigating effects of foreground dust on…
Discoveries in the last few years have revolutionized our knowledge of the universe and our ideas of its ultimate fate. Measurements of the expansion of the universe show that it is not slowing down under normal gravity but accelerating due…
Unscrupulous outdoor lighting produces a number of effects that are currently included under the term light pollution. Its consequences (e.g. loss of resources by energy waste), are being recognized for some time, as well as the possibility…