Last night was an opportunity to enjoy a perfectly clear evening without moon or clouds. It was my last real practice before Messier Marathon weekend for those sunset objects. Diane and I took off for Hill Country State Natural Area, near Bandera Texas.
Before leaving for the observing session, my wife and I had watched the Space Shuttle blast-off at about 6:40 local time. A fellow amateur, Brian, from the San Antonio Astronomical Association, had sent out an email reminding us that we would probably be able to see the Shuttle at the end of its first orbit from the San Antonio area. (Brian is el presidente of the club.)
At sunset, I was setting up the scope at Hill Country. I had my satellite spotter (Diane) with me and she had first view of the Shuttle at about 815 almost due north about 30 degrees high. 45 minutes later, another bright satellite passed just below Orion's belt, just above M42, also traveling SW to NE. Space Station? We saw a dozen satellites, and several shooting stars. One dim satellite passed reasonably slowly (high altitude I'd guess) through Andromeda galaxy about 845 when I was finally able to see M32 and M110.
I got a good practice on M74 and M77 two weeks before the marathon. M74 sure is hard, though I believe I was able to see it with averted vision.
With the rain of the end of last week, the ground was wet and the dew was early and heavy. I ended up having to cover my Telrad and eyepiece with a piece of cloth between observations to keep them warm enough to not fog. By 945 when I was done for the night, the outside of the tube was covered heavily with dew.
The open clusters of Gemini and Auriga were bright and easy with binoculars with the limiting magnitude of 6 - normal from Hill Country.
I had to pull the plug at about 9:45 because of work the next day. The deer on the way home were numerous and we even saw deer along Bandera Highway. I had previously seen a lot of deer on Park Road, but not on Bandera. Total deer seen on the way home... about 18. None actually ran onto the road in front of me, though a couple thought about it as they listened to my sudden braking.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Selling Short our Children's Future Dark Sky
I remember looking up at the sky from my suburban home and seeing the Milky Way shining like a silvery belt across the moonless night. I remember being spellbound by the thousands of stars and asking my father how many there were. After years passed, I remember the pride I had two years ago when I moved into Helotes, Texas and found out that the City Council had passed a plan to bring the dark sky back to my neighborhood.
Unfortunately, I am now deeply disappointment in the city where I live. This pain began when I found out that the City Council had quietly passed a new lighting ordinance last month which guts the 2006 measure and eliminates the hope that we will again be able to see the Milky Way from our Helotes back yards.
The July 2006 lighting ordinance had programmed a generous schedule during which businesses and home owners had years to replace their outdoor lights so that glare would not be directed upward into the sky (and into each other's back yards). The city had grandfathered existing lights, only requiring that they be replaced with lights that comply with the ordinance by 2012 - six years from date of enactment.
As of 2009, the only lights affected had been fixtures on new commercial construction. Only those who had installed new outdoor lights since 2006 were required to meet the standards - essentially a standard which said that the light would not have a direct beam of light shining uselessly into the sky. Unfortunately, there have been a number of new construction projects erected along Bandera highway the last two years which did not meet the standard. But, instead of enforcing the standard, our Council chose to replace the ordinance with one where ALL existing lights are grandfathered FOREVER.
The new ordinance does not simply "clarify and simplify outdoor lighting requirements" as stated in the draft minutes of the last meeting of the City Council. The new regulation abandons all effort to achieve dark skies in Helotes. The new ordinance does NOT "continue dark sky compliance" as reflected in the minutes. It eviscerates the ordinance in a way that dark sky compliance can never be achieved.
Helotes occupies important space between the light sensitive neighborhoods surrounding Camp Bullis and the Government Canyon State Natural Area. The protected habitat of these areas is adversely affected by urban light pollution. Why would City Council choose to take steps backwards away from light control at the very time that surrounding areas are trying to discourage light pollution? This makes no sense.
2009 is the International Year of Astronomy, for heaven's sake! I am a member of the San Antonio Astronomical Association, the Astronomical League, and the International Dark Sky Association. One of the reasons I live in Helotes has been our stance to protect the night sky. I have been proud to hold up Helotes as a model city attempting to bring its lights into compliance with the goal of every lighting fixture being a full cutoff light. However, I now find that all mention of private homes has been eliminated from the new lighting ordinance. No longer are Helotes residents encouraged by the ordinance to have full cut-off lighting. I am outraged at this abandoning of example and responsibility.
I feel deeply wounded and ill at what our Helotes leadership has decided to throw away. From correspondence with Benjamin Jones, the young man who worked so hard for years to have the 2006 lighting ordinance passed, I know that he is sick at heart to hear what the Council did when they abandoned our future.
I have published this critique in my Astronomy Blog, highlighting the irresponsible action taken by our city of Helotes during this Year of Astronomy. Instead of increasing protection of our dark sky, we now embrace fresh light pollution. I intend to bring the city's action to regional and national attention. I will be transmitting this critique to National Geographic magazine which had a recent cover story on Dark Skies. I will be contacting the Discovery Channel to make them aware of the new stance of the Helotes City Council on Dark Skies. I will let the International Dark Sky Association know of the new Lighting Ordinance and how the City Council believes this new ordinance "continues dark sky compliance." I will contact the Sierra Club and the Nature Conservancy regarding Helotes' stance and the effect on threatened bird species. I expect that the San Antonio print and television news groups will continue their interest in Helotes dark skies.
I grew up believing that "The truth will set us free." I also grew up knowing that good never came from pretending. This action by the City Council will see the light of day.
What can be done? I encourage the City Council of Helotes, Texas, to reinstate the July 2006 lighting ordinance and begin to educate builders in our city how they can comply with that ordinance. I encourage the city leadership to help people understand how they can improve our sky and why that matters.
The way forward is not to abandon good effort to make our sky dark once again - it is to make the requirements of the ordinance easily understood. Train us. Don't abandon the cause as hopeless. Help us all achieve the goal! Don't tell us that our only path is the path of failure.
I dream that one day our children will once again look up at the Helotes sky in awe. The Milky Way will be clearly visible. The children will be looking at thousands of stars instead of a couple dozen when they ask their parents how many stars there are out there.
Unfortunately, I am now deeply disappointment in the city where I live. This pain began when I found out that the City Council had quietly passed a new lighting ordinance last month which guts the 2006 measure and eliminates the hope that we will again be able to see the Milky Way from our Helotes back yards.
The July 2006 lighting ordinance had programmed a generous schedule during which businesses and home owners had years to replace their outdoor lights so that glare would not be directed upward into the sky (and into each other's back yards). The city had grandfathered existing lights, only requiring that they be replaced with lights that comply with the ordinance by 2012 - six years from date of enactment.
As of 2009, the only lights affected had been fixtures on new commercial construction. Only those who had installed new outdoor lights since 2006 were required to meet the standards - essentially a standard which said that the light would not have a direct beam of light shining uselessly into the sky. Unfortunately, there have been a number of new construction projects erected along Bandera highway the last two years which did not meet the standard. But, instead of enforcing the standard, our Council chose to replace the ordinance with one where ALL existing lights are grandfathered FOREVER.
The new ordinance does not simply "clarify and simplify outdoor lighting requirements" as stated in the draft minutes of the last meeting of the City Council. The new regulation abandons all effort to achieve dark skies in Helotes. The new ordinance does NOT "continue dark sky compliance" as reflected in the minutes. It eviscerates the ordinance in a way that dark sky compliance can never be achieved.
Helotes occupies important space between the light sensitive neighborhoods surrounding Camp Bullis and the Government Canyon State Natural Area. The protected habitat of these areas is adversely affected by urban light pollution. Why would City Council choose to take steps backwards away from light control at the very time that surrounding areas are trying to discourage light pollution? This makes no sense.
2009 is the International Year of Astronomy, for heaven's sake! I am a member of the San Antonio Astronomical Association, the Astronomical League, and the International Dark Sky Association. One of the reasons I live in Helotes has been our stance to protect the night sky. I have been proud to hold up Helotes as a model city attempting to bring its lights into compliance with the goal of every lighting fixture being a full cutoff light. However, I now find that all mention of private homes has been eliminated from the new lighting ordinance. No longer are Helotes residents encouraged by the ordinance to have full cut-off lighting. I am outraged at this abandoning of example and responsibility.
I feel deeply wounded and ill at what our Helotes leadership has decided to throw away. From correspondence with Benjamin Jones, the young man who worked so hard for years to have the 2006 lighting ordinance passed, I know that he is sick at heart to hear what the Council did when they abandoned our future.
I have published this critique in my Astronomy Blog, highlighting the irresponsible action taken by our city of Helotes during this Year of Astronomy. Instead of increasing protection of our dark sky, we now embrace fresh light pollution. I intend to bring the city's action to regional and national attention. I will be transmitting this critique to National Geographic magazine which had a recent cover story on Dark Skies. I will be contacting the Discovery Channel to make them aware of the new stance of the Helotes City Council on Dark Skies. I will let the International Dark Sky Association know of the new Lighting Ordinance and how the City Council believes this new ordinance "continues dark sky compliance." I will contact the Sierra Club and the Nature Conservancy regarding Helotes' stance and the effect on threatened bird species. I expect that the San Antonio print and television news groups will continue their interest in Helotes dark skies.
I grew up believing that "The truth will set us free." I also grew up knowing that good never came from pretending. This action by the City Council will see the light of day.
What can be done? I encourage the City Council of Helotes, Texas, to reinstate the July 2006 lighting ordinance and begin to educate builders in our city how they can comply with that ordinance. I encourage the city leadership to help people understand how they can improve our sky and why that matters.
The way forward is not to abandon good effort to make our sky dark once again - it is to make the requirements of the ordinance easily understood. Train us. Don't abandon the cause as hopeless. Help us all achieve the goal! Don't tell us that our only path is the path of failure.
I dream that one day our children will once again look up at the Helotes sky in awe. The Milky Way will be clearly visible. The children will be looking at thousands of stars instead of a couple dozen when they ask their parents how many stars there are out there.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
School Star Party
When I pulled up outside the elementary school on the west side of San Antonio, there were large groups of kids milling around with "Young Astronaut" printed on their school tee shirts. It looked like a rainbow because each school had their own individual uniform, and there must have been a couple dozen schools represented.
I found that my friends in the San Antonio Astronomical Association were set up behind the elementary school. We had six scopes between us and about 8 or 9 volunteers. I learned that the kids, who were going through a number of activities that evening would come out to our astronomy field in groups of about 100, and we would have about 7 groups. Each group would try to get through all six scopes in the fifteen minutes they had, before a whistle sounded and we got a new group.
I was there with the Helotescope, a home-made, wood-box scope that the reader may have read about in these pages. The 30x scope was pointed at Orion's great nebula - M42. I usually had 5-10 kids or parents lined up waiting to take a little look at this wonder all evening.
My jingle ran about like this, "What you are looking at is the Great Orion Nebula. If you see the three stars of Orion's belt, the telescope is looking at the tip of the sword that is hanging from the left side of his belt. When you look through the eyepiece, you will see a group of three stars - and here I held my hand up so that the palm was cupped toward the ground - in a shape about like my left hand. If you look really close at the star that would be here, at the base of my thumb on the left side, you will see that it is actually a group of four stars. They are in a cloudy bit of dust that makes them look misty. What you are seeing is an area where stars are being born. If you can see those four stars, it is a little like looking into a basket with four newborn little puppies in it."
I repeated my monologue about 4 times per group of students, and the students changed out four times an hour. I also told the kids and their teachers/parents that their club could build a telescope about like this little one.
About nine out of ten of the students saw what I was talking about and I frequently got "wow!" as the comment. A few kids struggled to see the image through the eyepiece. A few of the kids were much more interested in being outside in the dark than in seeing through the scope. They were kids, after all.
It gave me a little warm feeling in my heart to have been out there showing a lot of kids that had never before looked through a telescope what a star nursery looks like. Other members of the SAAA were pointing out open clusters, the crescent Moon, crescent Venus, and later on - Comet Lulin.
This is the sort of activity that I would have never figured out how to organize on my own. As it turns out, a couple of our members are wonderfully talented at getting into schools to show them the sky. It takes marketing, persistence, dedication, and organization. Certainly I would not be able to get out occasionally if Don And Keith were not working the issue all year long. This is one of the great parts of being a member of a local club.
While this sort of activity does little to increase my understanding of the sky, I think it is useful in the long run in molding young people who have known the importance of the sky since they were kids. I may need them to vote for a space telescope one day, or to get the parking lot lights turned off at the neighborhood McDonalds. Kids that know something about the sky are good kids.
Anyway, it made me feel a little better about life to know that I had done just a little to help some school children be exposed to the sky. After all, someone who calls themselves a "young astronaut" should have a memory of looking up and seeing the stars.
I found that my friends in the San Antonio Astronomical Association were set up behind the elementary school. We had six scopes between us and about 8 or 9 volunteers. I learned that the kids, who were going through a number of activities that evening would come out to our astronomy field in groups of about 100, and we would have about 7 groups. Each group would try to get through all six scopes in the fifteen minutes they had, before a whistle sounded and we got a new group.
I was there with the Helotescope, a home-made, wood-box scope that the reader may have read about in these pages. The 30x scope was pointed at Orion's great nebula - M42. I usually had 5-10 kids or parents lined up waiting to take a little look at this wonder all evening.
My jingle ran about like this, "What you are looking at is the Great Orion Nebula. If you see the three stars of Orion's belt, the telescope is looking at the tip of the sword that is hanging from the left side of his belt. When you look through the eyepiece, you will see a group of three stars - and here I held my hand up so that the palm was cupped toward the ground - in a shape about like my left hand. If you look really close at the star that would be here, at the base of my thumb on the left side, you will see that it is actually a group of four stars. They are in a cloudy bit of dust that makes them look misty. What you are seeing is an area where stars are being born. If you can see those four stars, it is a little like looking into a basket with four newborn little puppies in it."
I repeated my monologue about 4 times per group of students, and the students changed out four times an hour. I also told the kids and their teachers/parents that their club could build a telescope about like this little one.
About nine out of ten of the students saw what I was talking about and I frequently got "wow!" as the comment. A few kids struggled to see the image through the eyepiece. A few of the kids were much more interested in being outside in the dark than in seeing through the scope. They were kids, after all.
It gave me a little warm feeling in my heart to have been out there showing a lot of kids that had never before looked through a telescope what a star nursery looks like. Other members of the SAAA were pointing out open clusters, the crescent Moon, crescent Venus, and later on - Comet Lulin.
This is the sort of activity that I would have never figured out how to organize on my own. As it turns out, a couple of our members are wonderfully talented at getting into schools to show them the sky. It takes marketing, persistence, dedication, and organization. Certainly I would not be able to get out occasionally if Don And Keith were not working the issue all year long. This is one of the great parts of being a member of a local club.
While this sort of activity does little to increase my understanding of the sky, I think it is useful in the long run in molding young people who have known the importance of the sky since they were kids. I may need them to vote for a space telescope one day, or to get the parking lot lights turned off at the neighborhood McDonalds. Kids that know something about the sky are good kids.
Anyway, it made me feel a little better about life to know that I had done just a little to help some school children be exposed to the sky. After all, someone who calls themselves a "young astronaut" should have a memory of looking up and seeing the stars.
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