world year of physics ... should know better

Dear Professors,

albertw: snipped the quote...
Regards,
Albert White
--
Deputy Chairperson,
Irish Light Pollution Awareness Campaign, www.irishastronomy.org/ilpac
Irish Section, International Dark Sky Association, www.darksky.org

well said albert i think the reply you recieved was a bit high and mighty but obviously we are not smart enough to know the difference between "ordinary" light pollution and their light pollution. as for highly responsible it is probably in the dictonary right beside the word arrogant.
stephen.

Al,

Great letter! Hopefully they'll wake up and cop themselves on.
What's the point in shining car lights, cigarette lighters etc into the sky?
What do they hope to achieve?

Very strange!

Michael

Dear Albert,

we are reading carefully all the comments we receive, and the reply is not
automated. But I think you will understand that we answer similar comments
with a common reply.
I am on your side in fighting light pollution. But I think the negative
effect you are afraid off will depend on how we transport the message to
the public. You will agree that it is neiter possible nor desirable to
totally renounce artificial light. It is like the case of accoustic
pollution: We should avoid noise wherever possible, but on special
occasions we scream and clap our hands or even fire gun salutes. This does
not mean encouraging people to generate as much pollution as possible but
rather to teach them that everything has its time - a dark sky to watch the
stars as well as a short flash of light to celebrate the Year of Physics.
Most of the light sources used will not be more than car headlights or
torches, and I am sure even you will not oppose their use. I think that our
project could be the right occasion to talk to people about the problem of
light pollution and to explain them why we switch on our lights only for a
short ime, why we shine the light from one station to the next one and do
not (with a few exceptions) send the beam to the sky in an uncvontrolled
way. Certainly it would be a much better idea to switch off all lights in
the world for a short time, but this seems to be even more unrealistic than
our project. And calculating the speed of light in the same way Ole Roemer
did in 1676 is a very attractive idea, but I do not think that many people
will have the ability to do this, even under supervision by a physicist.
What we want to achieve is attention for the Year of Physics, and we are
sure that this in no way will undermine the work for dark skies. It would
be very fine if we could cooperate in finding the best way to strengthen
the public awareness of the importance of both light and darkness.

I would be glad to hear from you again.
Best regards
Max

Univ. Prof. Dr. Max E. Lippitsch
Institut für Physik
Karl-Franzens-Universität
Universitätsplatz 5
A-8010 Graz
Austria

Tel +43(316)380 5192
Fax +43(316)380 9816

He just doesn't seem to get the point!
It's not so much the light pollution he will cause that's the problem, more the wrong signal he setting to countless others who have never heard of the words "light pollution". He makes it more acceptable.

For an educated person, you'd think he'd know better.

Michael

I woudl sum up the last reply to Al as

"The message for the year of physics will be do as I say not as I do"

Bloody muppet!

>> I am on your side in fighting light pollution. But I think the negative effect you are afraid off will depend on how we transport the message to the public. <<

... and the public will believe whatever they want to believe, regardless of whatever we transport to them.


Newspapers, and broadcast media will play a large influence in all of this. So, what angle should we support?

If astronomers are seen to be arguing with physicists over this then it will look bad on both parties - that the "scientific community" can't even get its own house in order (the GP wouldn't normally be able to see separate branches of science as being separate), and if we support the idea, then it will look like we advocate one thing whilst doing the opposite.


The proposal has to be completely squashed right now, long before the media are able to get any sort of story out of it.