Telescope Farm

 

[A "telescope farm” is an observatory in a remote location with dark, clear skies (“Dark Sky Places”; see below in afterword to the second CBS News report) where amateur astronomers can house their own telescopes or rent access to existing ones.  Users control these telescopes remotely via the internet, often from the comfort of their homes, to capture high-quality astronomical images without dealing with local light pollution [see the last two articles posted below].

[Key characteristics of a telescope farm include:

•   Remote Operation: Astronomers can be located anywhere in the world and operate the equipment via an internet connection.

•   Dark Skies: The facilities are situated in locations with minimal light pollution, such as rural Texas or regional Australia, which allows for much clearer and more detailed observations than those possible in or near urban areas.

•   Automated Infrastructure: The sites feature automated systems, such as sheds whose roofs open and close in unison, to protect the equipment and facilitate remote, often scheduled, operation.

•   Accessibility: This business model makes high-quality astrophotography and research accessible to amateur stargazers and researchers who may not have the resources, location, or time to operate a personal observatory. 

[Companies like Starfront Observatories in Rockwood, Texas, in the U.S. and iTelescope in Coonabarabran, New South Wales, Australia, are examples of businesses that provide these services.] 

“LIGHT POLLUTION IS WASHING OUT THE NIGHT SKY.
A REMOTE TELESCOPE FARM HELPS STARGAZERS
BRING THE COSMOS TO THEIR SCREENS”
by David Schechter, Aparna Zalani, and Jojo Macaluso

[I was watching the evening news last Wednesday, 12 November, when I caught a report about a telescope farm in remote Central Texas.  The story fascinated me, even though I’m not an amateur astronomer.  I immediately downloaded the online report from the “Eye On America” segment of that evening’s CBS Evening News, and did a little additional ‘Net surfing, to make a potential post for future use on Rick On Theater.

[As it happens, I’m in the process of finishing another post that’s waking more time than I anticipated, so I decided to go ahead and post “Telescope Farm” now, just because I think it’s an interesting story.]

By day, a row of plain-looking sheds in sleepy Rockwood, Texas, looks like nothing more than a place to store farm tools and feed. But when the sun dips below the horizon, their roofs peel back in unison to reveal a hidden network of hundreds of telescopes. 

The so-called telescope farm is the brainchild of amateur astronomer Bray Falls, who turned his passion into a business when he co-founded the company Starfront Observatories 18 months ago.

“It has not gotten old yet. It’s so cool, every single time,” Falls said of the transforming sheds.

Starfront rents space to customers who ship their telescopes to the farm and control them via the internet from the comfort of their homes. The remote location allows amateur stargazers to take stunning pictures they wouldn’t be able to from home, because the sky in Rockwood is much darker than where they live — helping solve one of amateur astronomers’ biggest problems: light pollution. 

The night sky has gotten harder to see due to a 10% yearly increase in light pollution over the past decade, according to a 2023 study published in the journal Science [see below]. 

Starfront’s customers live all over the world, including Europe, Asia and the Middle East, Falls said.

Chuck Ayoub in suburban Detroit has a garage full of telescopes, but he hardly uses them anymore after shipping one out to Texas.

“The big difference are the dark skies. I am 20 minutes from downtown Detroit, and that light pollution is a killer,” Ayoub said.

Most nights, Ayoub livestreams his telescope feed to his large social media following. There’s also a small camera at the base so he can see his telescope in action.

From the Starfront property, Falls and others are identifying celestial objects no one has ever seen before, such as a photo he calls the “Crown of Thorns” nebula. The discoveries are furthering our understanding of space, even as our ability to see it is fading.

When asked about the threat posed by light pollution, Falls said, “It really prevents people from dreaming, like seeing what’s above them, just awe. You get the tingles, you get the goosebumps.”

But now, it’s a feeling you can get — even from your basement in Detroit.

[David Schechter is a national environmental correspondent and the host of “On the Dot with David Schechter,” a guided journey to explore how we’re changing the earth and earth is changing us.  His work has been honored with a 2021 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton for reporting about climate change.  He’s also a two-time winner of the national Murrow Award for documentary, three-time Scripps Howard National Journalism Award winner, recipient of the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Political Reporting and a James Beard Award Finalist.

[Aparna Zalani is an award-winning journalist for CBS News and Stations with over 25 years in journalism.  Before joining the CBS News Innovation Lab, she reported for MSNBC on major stories like the 2000 Florida election recount, the 9/11 attacks, and the 2011 Japanese tsunami.  An alumna of the NBC Page Program, Aparna joined the special projects unit at CBS Texas in 2013, working on local and state investigations, and covering medical and health stories.  She began her career in India at United Television (UTV), reporting for India Business Week.

[Jojo Macaluso is a Broadcast Associate at CBS News since January 2024; her prior experience includes positions as a News Assistant and a Production Intern at CBS News, as well as internships at NPR and dot.LA.  Macaluso has also contributed as a Quality Assurance Tester at UserTesting and a Technical Assistant at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.]

*  *  *  *
“LED LIGHTS ARE ERASING OUR VIEW OF THE STARS
— AND IT'S GETTING WORSE”
by David Schechter, Haley Rush, and Chance Horner

[This report on light pollution (the target of the embedded link above) is also from CBS News, broadcast on 1 September 2023.]

America’s rapid adoption of LED lighting saves money and uses less electricity. But it’s also making it harder to see the stars. 

Light pollution comes from excessive artificial light that causes the sky to glow and obscures the light of the stars, and the problem is growing fast. New research in the journal Science found the night sky is getting 10% brighter every year.  

Experts say much of that light pollution is driven by the growth of cheaper, cleaner and brighter LED lighting. 

“The most common kinds you see, the sort of bright white ones, are absolutely making the problem much worse,” said Stephen Hummel, the dark skies senior outreach coordinator at the University of Texas’ McDonald Observatory. 

A light pollution map of the United States shows the widespread nature of the problem. The eastern half of the United States is almost entirely blanketed by some level of light pollution. And while the night sky is hardest to see in big cities, the view of the night sky is also degraded in suburban and rural areas. 

“(Light) basically gets reflected from the sky and creates what we call air glow,” said Ohad Shemmer, an astronomer at the University of North Texas, who studies black holes. “The Milky Way is gradually disappearing from view. Many of the fainter stars are disappearing.”

Government regulation is driving the rapid switch to LEDs. In 2007, Congress mandated that all lightbulbs be three times more efficient. That policy finally took effect on August 1 of this year [2023], effectively banning new incandescent light bulbs in favor of LEDs and compact fluorescents.  

But there are unintended consequences. 

Research shows too much light at night can interrupt our sleep cycle, potentially contributing to health issues like certain cancers and heart problems. It’s also a major factor in the decline of insect populations which require darkness to navigate, and it contributes to the death of hundreds of millions of birds each year that fly into brightly lit buildings.   

The McDonald Observatory is in the Big Bend region of far West Texas. It’s home to the Hobby-Eberly Telescope, the largest of its kind in the world. At night it collects the faint lights of outer space on an exceptionally large mirror. A dark night sky is essential to that work. 

“If the sky got too bright, eventually there would be no point in building big telescopes on the ground at all,” said astronomer Steven Janowiecki, who is the telescope’s science operations manager. 

To protect the night sky, the Observatory helped organize the Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve. It covers an area of 15,000 square miles across West Texas and portions of northern Mexico. The certification is granted by the nonprofit DarkSky, which has more than 70 chapters across the country. 

The reserve is a partnership of parks, communities and local groups that have all agreed to better lighting practices by swapping out their bright white LED streetlights for amber-colored ones that do not scatter as much light up into the sky and by installing covers that point light downward. 

The Alpine [Texas] City Council unanimously passed an ordinance in 2021 regulating outdoor lighting. Nearly all the city’s 200 streetlights have been updated from white to amber. The ordinance gives businesses and homes 5 years to convert to dark sky friendly lighting or face a daily fine of $50. 

“[Dark skies are] our product,” said Chris Ruggia, the director of tourism for the City of Alpine. “It’s the experience of coming here, and if we want that to continue, to provide some kind of prosperity in the community, we have to take care of it.”  

Ruggia says there are local programs to help homeowners cover the associated costs of making the switch and that there has been little controversy around the mandate. But he anticipates that might change as the deadline approaches. 

“There’s going to be some conversations that aren’t easy, especially as the time limit runs out,” he said. 

The American Lighting Association, which represents lighting manufacturers, acknowledges the problem of light pollution is “more extensive than originally thought.”  In response, it says many of its manufacturers now make shielded outdoor light fixtures to direct light away from the sky. 

Light pollution readings taken across the reserve show the plan is working. Astronomer Stephen Hummel says there has been a 20% reduction in nighttime light pollution there since 2020.  

But it is not just small communities that are making an impact. Hummel points to big cities like Los Angeles, Chicago and Phoenix that are all swapping out overly bright streetlights for ones that are dark sky friendly. 

“The problem really is not money. It isn’t infrastructure, really. It’s awareness. Light pollution is completely reversible. It’s one of the few kinds of pollution that you could solve immediately. You could flip a switch and fix the problem,” he said. 

[U.S. Dark Sky Places: There are approximately 165 International Dark Sky Places — sanctuaries for natural darkness designated by the DarkSky International (formerly International Dark-Sky Association) — across the United States.  In these places, you can often find exceptionally clear views of the night sky.

[Haley Rush is an Investigative Producer for CBS News & Stations/Local News Innovation Lab.  She brings experience from previous roles at KPTV Fox 12 Oregon, KRQE NEWS 13/KASA FOX 2, and KPLC-TV.  Rush holds a 2013 Bachelor of Arts degree in Broadcast Journalism from Mayborn School of Journalism – University of North Texas.  

[Chance Horner is a photojournalist and producer covering climate change and the environment for CBS News.]

*  *  *  *
“RAPID BRIGHTENING OF NIGHT SKIES GLOBALLY:
RECENT RESULTS FROM CITIZEN SCIENCE AND SOLUTIONS”

[This article was posted to the website of the American Astronomical Society on 1 March 2023.  It’s somewhat technical, and the references are mostly from scientific journals, so have included the list of sources, which I would ordinarily omit, below the article itself.  (Most of the references are likely to be in university libraries or the public systems of large cities, rather than local community libraries.  I see, however, that all have URL’s noted in the citations below, so there may be online editions accessible—though some may limit access in one way or another.)]

A recent paper by Kyba et al. (2023) [this is a link to the Science article referenced in the report above] found that light pollution of the world’s night skies has increased by as much as 10% a year since 2011, based on star counts made by citizen scientists. Paraphrasing the authors, night skies would brighten by a factor of about four over the duration of human childhood, strongly reducing the visibility of stars. This has been widely covered in the media and articles. Here, we share an overview of these results, related consequences, and one ray of hope: ground-based light pollution can be addressed through mitigating solutions that have already been successfully demonstrated.

[A citizen scientist is a member of the general public — an amateur or nonprofessional researcher — who voluntarily participates in scientific work (i.e., citizen science, also known as community science or participatory science), often in collaboration with or under the direction of professional scientists and scientific institutions.]

Although our newsfeeds and attention are dominated by SpaceX Starlink launches and the impact on astronomy from low-earth orbiting satellites, ground-based light pollution remains the largest threat to astronomical science and to humanity’s relationship with the skies. The recent citizen-science analysis in Kyba et al. 2023 revealed that terrestrial light pollution has not gone away and is, in fact, increasing faster than expected, by as much as 10% each year over the previous year. Although even this is likely an underestimate, there is some good news: ground-based light pollution can be mitigated successfully.

Skyglow — the most familiar symptom of light pollution — is caused by atmospheric scattering of light from ground-based sources (direct or reflected). Short wavelengths are scattered most effectively leading to the familiar light domes and distinctive glow that yield a washed-out appearance to the skies above light-polluted regions at night. Anyone who has frequented a major metropolitan area well knows that seeing more than a handful of stars is rare. And as astronomers, we’re all familiar with the forlorn husks of once-productive research facilities now stranded amongst bustling, brightly lit city streets or university campuses.

As the global population continues to grow and cities expand, the problem of light pollution grows and expands with them. This seems like a faraway concern for most astronomical sites these days, with the largest telescopes being built in remote regions of the planet with little light pollution to worry about, for now. However, with growth rates as high as 10% per year, the impact of light pollution poses an increasing problem for our science.

Light pollution isn’t just bad for our astronomical sites. How many astronomers were motivated to consider an astronomy career by childhood experiences of the night sky or an astronomical event (Comet Hale-Bopp, anyone?)? As fewer and fewer people are able to experience the night sky, we lose the inspiration that drives our science, something that makes astrophysics one of the easiest physical sciences to "sell" to the public and that brings talented engineers to our field to design and run our facilities.

[Comet Hale-Bopp, formally designated C/1995 O1, last appeared over Earth in 1997. It’s predicted to appear next in about 4385 (2,360 years from now).]

Beyond these human concerns, there is increasing evidence that ground-based light pollution is responsible for disruption to human and animal circadian rhythms (Cao et al. 2023, Touzot et al. 2023), migratory patterns (Torres et al. 2020), and plant seasonal cycles (Meng et al. 2022), as well as changes in reproductive cycles of insects (Firebaugh & Haynes 2016) to name a few of the problems. It may also make urban air quality worse (Stark et al. 2011, Shith et al. 2022). Poor-quality outdoor lighting, which is the source of light pollution, wastes energy (Tatro 2020) and is in part responsible for workplace accidents (Wren & Locke 2015). So, even if your own scientific endeavors are not impacted by ground-based light pollution, it is highly likely that your life or environment is.

[The circadian rhythm is the natural, internal process that regulates the physical, mental, and behavioral changes an organism experiences over a roughly 24-hour cycle. The word ‘circadian’ comes from the Latin circa diem, meaning ‘about a day.’

[This “internal clock” is found in most living things, including humans, animals, plants, and microorganisms. It’s primarily influenced by light and darkness and regulates important functions like sleep-wake cycles, body temperature, hormones, and digestion.

[Disruptions to the circadian rhythm (e.g., from jet lag or shift work) can negatively impact health and well-being, leading to sleep disorders, fatigue, and an increased risk of other health issues like obesity and depression.]

For more than a decade, NSF’s [National Science Foundation] National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab) has been leading a citizen-science program known as the Globe at Night. This program collects estimates of naked-eye limiting magnitude (NELM) and Sky Quality Meter measurements submitted by volunteers around the world. Contributions typically exceed some 10,000 to 30,000 observations per year with more than a quarter of a million data points from 180 countries over the last 17 years.

[NELM is the magnitude of the faintest star you can see with your unaided eyes in a particular night sky. It varies depending on factors like light pollution, atmospheric conditions, and your own vision, but is a common way to measure the darkness of the sky. A lower number for limiting magnitude means a darker sky where fainter stars are visible.

[Sky Quality Meter (SQM) measurements quantify the brightness of the night sky in a specific area. This measurement is typically taken in “magnitudes per square arcsecond” (mag/arsec²) using a portable device, with lower numbers indicating a darker sky. These measurements are used to monitor light pollution, with data collected by amateur astronomers and researchers worldwide.]

Kyba et al. (2023) studied the NELM estimates and based on these data inferred a global average increase in the light pollution of 9.6% (10.4% in North America) per year between 2011 and 2022. This is a much larger increase than has been reported by studies using only satellite remote sensing observations of light emissions (Kyba et al. 2017, Sanchez de Miguel 2017), which had found a roughly 2% per year increase on a global average basis. Satellite instrumentation is focused on wavelengths of 500-900 nm [nanometer, a unit of length equal to one billionth of a meter commonly used to express the very tiny dimensions of electromagnetic radiation], which misses short-wavelength optical emissions characteristic of modern white light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that increasingly dominate the light budgets of cities. In addition, blue light (i.e., shorter wavelengths) is more effectively scattered in the atmosphere than other colors. These two effects give a possible reason for the lower estimate from orbital-based light pollution measures versus the ground-based estimates studied by Kyba et al. The team also points out that direct glare from poorly shielded LED street lights could blind observers near them to faint stars, biasing the NELM estimates toward brighter values without increasing skyglow locally (Bará, Bao-Varela & Kocifaj 2023).

It is probable that the global average change of +9.6% per year is in fact an underestimate of the true rate of increase in light pollution. Since artificial nighttime lighting is strongly correlated with economic performance metrics (Rybnikova 2022) and regions with high rates of economic growth are under-sampled in the Globe At Night data, it is likely that the true rate of increase exceeds 10% per year.

For our work as astronomers, this means that skies over existing observatories are getting noticeably degraded over timescales far less than one astronomer's lifetime, and the options available for sufficiently dark locations for new observatories are dwindling rapidly. This finding also demonstrates (as the authors note) that existing lighting policies are not adequate for the protection of the night sky.

There is, however, some good news — the sky glow from artificial light at night can be reduced. The strategies for cutting light pollution are straightforward: use outdoor lighting only when, where, and how it is needed (timing, area, and brightness), minimize blue light content, and use fully shielded fixtures (see Outdoor Lighting Basics for more information). Those approaches may be simple, but as the Kyba et al. study shows, more effort is needed to put these recommendations into ordinances, bylaws, and other regulations to reverse the degradation of our shared night sky, which is a millennia-old resource and inspiration for us all.

Please join us at AAS 242 in Albuquerque to hear about recent successes in mitigating light pollution, the creation of protected dark-sky places, recent documentaries on the many ways we connect to dark skies, and how good lighting practices have been implemented in lighting ordinances in different regions of the US. [This meeting of the American Astronomical Society took place on 4-8 June 2023.]

References:

•   Bará, S., Bao-Varela, C., & Kocifaj, M. 2023. “Modeling the artificial night sky brightness at short distances from streetlights”. Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer, vol. 296, 108456. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jqsrt.2022.108456 

•   Cao, M., Xu, T., & Yin, D. 2023. “Understanding light pollution: Recent advances on its health threat and regulations” Science Direct, vol 127, 589-602. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jes.2022.06.020

•   Firebaugh, A. & Haynes, K. J. 2016. “Experimental tests of light-pollution impacts on nocturnal insect courtship and dispersal” Oecologia, 182, 4, 1203-1211. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-016-3723-1

•   Kyba, C. C. M., Kuester, T., Sanchez de Miguel, A., et al. 2017. “Artificially lit surface of Earth at night increasing in irradiance and extent” Science Advances, vol 3, 11. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1701528

•   Kyba, C. C. M., Altintas, Y. O., Walker, C.E., et al. 2023. “Citizen scientists report global rapid reductions in the visibility of stars from 2011 to 2022” Science, vol. 379, 6629, 265-268. DOI: 10.1126/science.abq778

•   Meng, L., Zhou, Y., O Roman, M., et al. 2022. “Artificial light at night: an underappreciated effect on phenology of deciduous woody plants” PNAS Nexus, vol 1, 2, pgac046. https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac046

•   Rybnikova, N. 2022. "Everynight Accounting: Nighttime Lights as a Proxy for Economic Performance of Regions" Remote Sensing vol. 14,  4, 825. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14040825

•   Sanchez de Miguel, A., Aube, A., Zamorano, J., et al.  2017. “Sky Quality Meter measurements in a colour- changing world” MNRAS, vol. 467, 3, 2966-2979. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx145

•   Shith, S., Ramli, N. A., Awang, N. R., Ismail, M. R., Latif, M. T., & Zainordin, N. S. 2022. “Does Light Pollution Affect Nighttime Ground-Level Ozone Concentrations?” Atmosphere, vol. 13, 11, 1844. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13111844 

•   Stark, H., et al. 2011. “City lights and urban air”. Nature Geoscience, vol. 4, 11, 730–731. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1300

•   Tatro, K., 2020. “Light Energy: Our Wasted Resource” Consilience, vol. 22, 65-72. https://doi.org/10.7916/consilience.vi22.6731

•   Torres, D., Tidau, S., Jenkins, S., et al. 2020. “Artificial skyglow disrupts celestial migration at night” Current Biology, vol 30, 12, R696-R697. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.05.002

•   Touzot, M., Dumet, A., Secondi, J., et al. 2023. “Artificial light at night triggers slight transcriptomic effects on melatonin signaling but not synthesis in tadpoles of two anuran species” Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology, 111386. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2023.111386

•   Wren, W., & Locke, S. 2015. “Upgraded Rig Lighting Improves Night Time Visibility While Reducing Stray Light and the Threat to Dark Skies in West Texas” SPE E&P Health, Safety, Security and Environmental Conference – Americas” March 2015. https://doi.org/10.2118/173492-MS