Blog Archives

KQED (30 March 2023)

4/9/2023

In Search of Bright Stars: Can the Bay Area Reduce Its Worsening Light Pollution?

According to John Barentine, scientist, astronomer and principal consultant at Dark Sky Consulting, the study contains a caveat: He says it best represents areas with the most citizen-science participation — namely, places like North America. Barentine noted that according to Globe at Night, from 2011 to 2022 the brightness of the night sky in the Bay Area increased by approximately 7% each year.

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Sky & Telescope (27 March 2023)

4/9/2023

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Satellites and space debris are polluting our night skies

Anyone who has watched the night sky recently knows it: Satellites are everywhere. They flash across the firmament, paint streaks on photos, and irritate stargazers. In just three years since the advent of so-called megaconstellations, such as SpaceX’s Starlink, light pollution by objects in Earth’s orbit has moved from non-topic to possibly the most serious threat to ground-based astronomy. And, as John Barentine (Dark Sky Consulting) and his colleagues discuss in a paper published in Nature Astronomy, it could get worse — much worse.

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Next City (16 March 2023)

4/9/2023

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How Mass Bird Death In Philadelphia Catalyzed A Local Lights-out Program

[C]ompanies may feel they can get a bigger bang for their buck (and mental energy) by completing other eligible projects. John Barentine, a light pollution consultant who has had discussions with commercial property owners about such measures, points out that LEED certification provides the same number of points for bicycle facilities in new construction as light pollution mitigation. “You get the equivalent amount of credit for putting in bike racks as far as the certification goes,” he explains. “So why would you go to all this extra trouble if it’s just as easy to get equivalent credit doing something that’s a lot easier and that people might actually use?”

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WIRED (13 February 2023)

4/9/2023

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Citizen Scientists Show Light Pollution Erases Stars From the Sky

There are good reasons for nighttime lighting, including ensuring public safety. But that doesn’t have to be in tension with protecting the night sky, argues John Barentine, a Tucson-based astronomer and executive officer of Dark Sky Consulting, which advises companies and city officials on outdoor lighting use. He points to Tucson as a success story. “I don’t see why the policies here can’t be exported to other places,” he says. “We know they work.”

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Media Appearances

KQED (30 March 2023)

In Search of Bright Stars: Can the Bay Area Reduce Its Worsening Light Pollution?

Sky & Telescope (27 March 2023)

Satellites and space debris are polluting our night skies

Next City (16 March 2023)

How Mass Bird Death In Philadelphia Catalyzed A Local Lights-out Program

WIRED (13 February 2023)

Citizen Scientists Show Light Pollution Erases Stars From the Sky

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