<disillusioned rant on>

Umm, I may be a bit dense here, but in response to all of the below
quoted statements:
Instead of a criminal response (shooting the light out), an indifferent
response (view from the country), or a stick-my-head-into-the-sand,
I-can't-do-squat-about-what's-happening-in-my-own-neighborhood response
(view from the backyard, kinda- it's better than nothing), may I suggest
an alternative? Why don't YOU *DO* something about the problem?
Geez...talk about apathy. Take a look at the quotes from below. These
are from one night of posts to the list! Not one mentioned the real
soulution to the problem. The International Dark-Sky Association in 10
years has made tremendous strides in bringing the night sky back to the
people- you people especially- thru education and legislation. It is
one of the only organizations dedicated to fixing what most of you only
like to moan and groan about. For about 10% of what you spend on a nice
eyepiece, you can help make more of a difference than an expensive
filter ever could. Better yet, go to your state and (especially) local
governments and state you position. Make it known that you value the
night sky and are damned tired of having it pissed away by car
dealerships, gas stations and malls! Most poor lighting installations
are in place because no one was there to point out how horrible the
design really is. Take a look at http://www.fpi-protostar.com/drksky/
or http://www.darksky.org to see what is possible. Less than 1% (IIRC)
of all astronomers are members of the IDA, and a quick browse at the
above sites tells you how much has been done already. Just imagine what
would happen if we all banded together!?!?! Come on, let's do something
real about this!

<rant off, almost>

Mike

Les Garten wrote:
>
> Hi
> The question: Street Lighting
> The Answer: Beeman Kodiak Magnum .25 cal. Air-rifle.

and

>Or------A Laser Pointer aimed at the sensor--

and

>My reply:
>You primary concern should prob. be city skyglow. No matter how neat it
>is to have an observatory in your backyard, I suspect it will be a big
>waste. Nothing can replace a truly dark sky, unfortunately. I would
>love to walk out in the backyard, unlock the door, and open my dome
>slit. But, reality check, not on the outskirts of the city.

and

>Here's a slightly different twist to finding an observatory site. It might
>be possible to find someone within a reasonable distance from your home that
>has a large parcel of land whose owner might rent/lease a portion to you for
>observing.

It continues...

>The solution to that problem is to become a lunar/planetary observer. Deep
>sky stuff suffers badly from light pollution but the solar system does not
>(save for comets :-(

and last but not least

>Dick,
>The best thing would be to have an observatory in a dark site, the next
>best is to have one at home unless the light pollution is really bad.


---- ----
Michael Smith Ft. Worth Texas USA
32º45'36"N 97º14'45"W -0600 GMT

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| http://www.darksky.org |
+------------------------------------------------+
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