On May 8, 2013, I watched a contractor replacing all of the streetlights on our street in Aberdeen with dimmable, fully shielded LED lights. At night, streetlights which are some distance away are barely visible as their light is directed … Continue reading New street lighting: energy-efficient & dark sky friendly
Tracy Hendry, Vice President of the Kamloops Astronomical Society, had the following comments on the recent Ajax Open House: I attended the Ajax Mine Open House on Monday evening, February 6th. There were security personnel in the hall outside the room and a table where one could sign in. There was a greeter just inside the door who kindly informed me what the set-up of the room was, where to find the people I needed to talk to and where to find the computer stations where I could provide comments if I wished. There were also information hand-outs to take. … Continue reading Ajax Open House Perspective
More stars. Less Light. Participate in GLOBE at Night! Take a few minutes to get involved in the GLOBE at Night campaign to preserve dark skies! GLOBE at Night is a citizen-science campaign open to people all over the world to raise awareness of the impact of light pollution by inviting citizen-scientists to measure their night sky brightness and report their observations to a website from a computer or smart phone. Light pollution threatens not only our “right to starlight”, but can affect energy consumption, wildlife and health. Through 2011, people in 115 countries contributed 66,000 measurements, making GLOBE at … Continue reading Calling all Earthlings!
For the past year, the Kamloops Astronomical Society has been working on fulfilling requirements for establishing a Dark Sky Preserve at the Stake Lake Recreation Area where our observatory is located. This designation is granted by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, and currently there are only 13 Dark Sky Preserves in Canada, with just two in BC. Our group is very concerned that the proposed Ajax Mine will contribute significant light pollution to the skies over Stake Lake. We have met with the Environmental Assessment Office representatives and were impressed with their knowledge of the issues around light pollution … Continue reading Astronomical Society Has Ajax Concerns
