CAS December Meeting
December 7, 2005
McCormick Observatory
20-25 people in attendance.
Guest Speaker: Philip Ianna (UVa, IDA, IESNA, and a Co-Founder of CAS)
Presentation: “Dark Skies: A Global and Local Update”
Announcements from End of meeting:
CAS Membership dues are due this month!
$30 Individual
$35 Family
$20 for Senior and Students
Please make checks payable to: Charlottesville Astronomical Society and send to Larry Saunders, CAS Treasurer.
Magazine Discounts
Astronomy Magazine has raised their club rate to $34.
Sky and Telescope is still $32.95
Make checks payable to: Charlottesville Astronomical Society and send to Larry Saunders. He will then send payment and subscription info to publisher(s) utilizing CAS check(s).
January Meeting
Steve Reilly might be the speaker next month to give talk on “Digital Imaging Editing 101”
Meeting will also include “Show and Tell of Astronomy Christmas gifts.” Bring in any of your new Astronomy Gizmos to show off, and tell us about them.
December Observing Session
December 30th, 7:00PM “Say Goodbye to 2005 Star Party” at Dean’s.
Carpools will be setup for people without four wheel drive vehicles from either Blue Ridge School, or Church parking lot near base of Mtn. Watch for updates on website and yahoo groups announcements.
Christmas Party this Saturday, December 10th, 6:00PM at Bill Phillips’ house.
May want to visit the Green Valley Book Fair for inexpensive books, which is currently open.
Presentation Notes from: “Dark Skies: A Global and Local Update”
Impact on Astronomy
Harder to find sites
Current ones under threat
Telescopes are major investments
New Telescopes built at existing sites
Kitt Peak of
Even light pollution at
Local ordnances require Low Pressure Sodium (LPS) lamps, but light pollution is still a problem.
Astronomers prefer the use of LPS lamps to other types because their narrow bandwidth is easily filtered.
Fan MTN contribution to excess
Impact on Natural World
Trees - prolonged growth, risk of frost injury from Incandescent and high pressure sodium
Plants
Birds – collision with lighted structures. > 500 million dies
Invertebrates - Billions of moths killed annually
Turtles – have reproduction problems with light…LPS does not effect them (eyes not sensitive to wavelength).
Fixture Seal of Approval – IDA sponsored
C’ville adopted same ordinance. Neither are written that well.
IDA www.Darksky.org
Phil is committee member on “Model Lighting Ordinance” MLO.
IDA and IESNA now working cooperatively on developing a single ordinance.
Unihedron Sky Quality Meter (Out of
About $120
Measures magnitude of light per square arc second.
Pantops(field next to Martha Jefferson) 19.53 mg/sq arcsec
Talked about starting a local IDA chapter to form a common lighting ordnance for the surrounding counties.
Closing