Did anyone see the European light pollution map in the Metro newspaper this morning?
I wish I'd saved a copy because I can't seem to find the map online. It showed increase/decrease in light pollution over time as colors. (yellow/orange == increase; blue==decrease; red == new lights) Ireland is covered with red dots as though we have the pox or something. Please let me know if there is any place I can find this map online.

You should be able to get a copy of the photo from whoever produces/prints Metro. Email them.

Phil.

I have several copies of the metro here, if you want me to keep you one, just let me know.

Didn't see it but I assume its Andreas Hänel's work www.star.le.ac.uk/~dbl/cfds2006/talks/AndreasHanel.pdf (34MB!)

Andreas is using military satellite data to compare the difference in brightness up to 2003.

I hope to have Andreas over to speak at the 2009 conference.

This is the only data at present that shows the increase in lighting in Ireland.

What I'm working on at the moment is mapping the actual sky brightness to compare with the Cinzano map (image on the front page of www.ilpac.eu). His map is the inferred limiting magnitude based on the satellite images using models of how the light scatters. So far there has been no direct measurement of this published in Ireland. There have been direct measurement maps taken in some other European countries and I've been working with those who made them to start on an Irish Map.

I'm still in the early stages but hope to have a poster ready for the Galway Astronomy Festival showing the real limiting magnitude in Wicklow/Dublin and how this compares to other studies. This is using a combination of images and luminance meter readings.
Once I've the calibration sorted I hope to be able to give instructions out to the rest of you on how to take images with your 350D/400D's and kit lenses to make up a larger map.

Now if the moon and clouds would just go away... Measuring how bright the sky gets during the night as the moon passes overhead gets boring very quickly! :wink:

Didn't see it but I assume its Andreas Hänel's work www.star.le.ac.uk/~dbl/cfds2006/talks/AndreasHanel.pdf (34MB!)

Andreas is using military satellite data to compare the difference in brightness up to 2003.

Yes this is the image. Thanks!

Once I've the calibration sorted I hope to be able to give instructions out to the rest of you on how to take images with your 350D/400D's and kit lenses to make up a larger map.

This sounds like a great idea. I wish I had taken a wide shot view over the broadmeadows estuary (my only darkish sky area within a short walk of home) before the distribution centers were built on the north side. I did take some photos but they were with a different camera so I can't really make a direct comparison. I also thought a 360 night panorama from Tara, Newgrange or other Heritage sight would be useful for dark sky educational material, but for all practical purposes these sites along with certain previously pristine parts of the burren are already ruined.

San Francisco had a great light pollution killer, fog rolled in off the pacific nearly every summer night and killed the lights for anything within 1000 feet of sea level. Climb mount Tamalpais another 1000 feet above that and it was dark skies less than an hour from a bright city. Fog machines anyone?

Gosh, hasnt the light pollution over Ireland gotton alot worse over the past 10 years, especially in the midlands! :cry:

Any chance that someone can get a scan of the metro article to me in the next couple of hours?

With the expansion of the large cities, the surrounding counties of Dublin are essentially suburbs, how long will it be before there are unbroken lines of light pollution stretching from Dublin south to Waterford, north to Dundalk and west to Athlone? The same goes for Cork and Galway and Limerick. With the rising population and the demands for cheaper housing the unlit countryside, where land is cheaper, are the obvious targets for developers.

Quick thanks to the nice folks on Newstalk 106 who after seeing the metro piece had me on for a quick chat with Sean Moncrieff today!

Yes I heard than. We done

Are you all talking about today's article? Page 12 Metro.... full page article about it with a picture too. I did see a picture in last week's metro, it seemed more up to date than today's but I thoroughly enjoyed the read today.
I'm so glad that something is being done to raise awareness of this awful problem, I am badly affected by light pollution and have even had to sell my 8inch scope as it had become un-useable to me.
I've been watching comet Holmes in my garden recently and can only fantasise what it must be like in darker skies. I have the M50 with all it's glorious light spilling in all directions 20 feet from my back door. The terrible reality for me is knowing that the motorway and it's light are not going to go away anytime soon and it'll probably take years before any kind of shielding will happen.

Hi,

I didn't know that there was anything in todays metro. Its not a paper that I get unless someone leave it at the coffee machine in work! There was an article in the uk version of the paper this week as far as I know. If somone can scan either article I'd be interested to see it.

I have the M50 with all it's glorious light spilling in all directions 20 feet from my back door. The terrible reality for me is knowing that the motorway and it's light are not going to go away anytime soon and it'll probably take years before any kind of shielding will happen.

Where abouts on the M50 are you? There may be some scope for improving the lighting there with the upgrades, some older sections of the M50 have pretty bad lighting. If you'd like to email/pm me some details about where you are I'll fire off a letter to the NRA and ask about their upgrade plans for the M50.

Cheers,
~Al

Well done Al, did you get it recorded?