Zodiacal Lights (and Casino Lights)

On March 6, 2010, I went out with Bob of Blackholes and Astrostuff to photograph the Zodiacal Lights. Zodiacal light is caused by sunlight reflecting off of dust particles in the solar system known as cosmic dust, known as the interplanetary dust cloud. It usually appears as a triangle-shaped column of light in the western sky in the spring just after the evening twilight has disappeared, or in autumn just before morning twilight appears.


The following picture is one that was taken the same night as the ones above. It is of our local Dakota Dunes Casino lights shining into the sky causing light pollution. Unfortunately, the casino operators have no respect for astronomy nor care that the light pollution is a problem. Thus, the lights persist night after night. Orion constellation is in the center, The Hyades are up and to the right of that and the Pleiades are in the top right corner.

Well, as much as I don't consider myself an environmentalist, I figured with the looming Earth Day tomorrow, I would put up a post regarding that. There is not much for me to say about it. I will say that, yes, it is important to protect the Earth and it's ecosystems. I do notice light pollution, especially when trying to snap some night photos. I have also noticed that our city is using bright lights in new areas, opposed to the less brilliant amber lighting in other areas. This makes it hard to take half decent photos in the city. It's a shame really.

Anyway, for more information about Earth Day, please visit the official website.

(Photo from the Earth Day website)

Light Pollution

So, I've noticed lately, that there seems to be an ever-increasing amount of light pollution over Saskatoon. This is especially evident in the Stonegate area where all the new businesses are. They seem to be using a lot of white lights instead of amber ones, thus making for a really bright glow above that area. I think the city should be making a committment to decrease the amount of light pollution by changing to more energy efficient lights, ensuring they are pointing down better than the current ones, and so on.

I'm not sure the exact source for the following photo. I believe that NASA has done these types of satellite images and National Geographic has done stories on this topic as well. The planet is under seige from an increasing amount of light pollution. It definitely makes observing the stars more difficult.