#skyglow — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #skyglow, aggregated by home.social.
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How do increased light levels, night sky brightness and cooler light colors affect #wildlife? Try out yourself by using this simulation. How do owls or hedgehogs perceive this environment? See the scene through their eyes by opening this application on a desktop browser.
https://naturnacht-fulda-rhoen.de/light-pollution-wildlife/ -
How do increased light levels, night sky brightness and cooler light colors affect #wildlife? Try out yourself by using this simulation. How do owls or hedgehogs perceive this environment? See the scene through their eyes by opening this application on a desktop browser.
https://naturnacht-fulda-rhoen.de/light-pollution-wildlife/ -
A colleague of mine is offering a funded PhD position (4 years) in #Metrology of #Skyglow in Switzerland: https://live.solique.ch/metas/de/internet/jobs/PhD-Position-in-Metrology-for-Skyglow-Measurement-and-Monitoring-(4-years-%E2%80%93-100-)--3891747/
And at the same time I'm offering a PhD on #RemoteSensing using nighttime lights: https://jobs.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/jobposting/62065e5be70a916f65edd647cd1b1740b04cd72e0
It's great to see #LightPollution and #Night research being taken seriously by funding agencies!
#AcademicJobs #PhysicsJobs #GeographyJobs #fedihired #getFedihired
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A colleague of mine is offering a funded PhD position (4 years) in #Metrology of #Skyglow in Switzerland: https://live.solique.ch/metas/de/internet/jobs/PhD-Position-in-Metrology-for-Skyglow-Measurement-and-Monitoring-(4-years-%E2%80%93-100-)--3891747/
And at the same time I'm offering a PhD on #RemoteSensing using nighttime lights: https://jobs.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/jobposting/62065e5be70a916f65edd647cd1b1740b04cd72e0
It's great to see #LightPollution and #Night research being taken seriously by funding agencies!
#AcademicJobs #PhysicsJobs #GeographyJobs #fedihired #getFedihired
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Reminder that fascinating studies about moonlight influences on species behavior are also de facto studies about #lightpollution and especially #skyglow See photos at esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... an article in Ecology at doi.org/10.1002/ecy....
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„When millions of people turn off their lights for Earth Hour each year, something remarkable happens in the night sky above cities. New research from Hong Kong published in Scientific Reports shows that just a small number of decorative buildings and advertising boards can dramatically brighten the entire urban night sky and when they go dark, the sky becomes up to 50% darker.“
https://phys.org/news/2025-07-bright-entire-night-sky.html
#lightpollution #skyglow #facadelighting #darksky #sciencenews
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„When millions of people turn off their lights for Earth Hour each year, something remarkable happens in the night sky above cities. New research from Hong Kong published in Scientific Reports shows that just a small number of decorative buildings and advertising boards can dramatically brighten the entire urban night sky and when they go dark, the sky becomes up to 50% darker.“
https://phys.org/news/2025-07-bright-entire-night-sky.html
#lightpollution #skyglow #facadelighting #darksky #sciencenews
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#Skyglow reductions observed during #EarthHour in #HongKong imply that #LED billboards and building façade lighting are "major contributors to urban light pollution."
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#Skyglow reductions observed during #EarthHour in #HongKong imply that #LED billboards and building façade lighting are "major contributors to urban light pollution."
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In order to fully understand how #LightPollution affects our world, we need to know how much of it is in which places. Divergent results from different measurement methods present some tension, but recent research suggests a way forward.
Read more about how we can reconcile views of the Earth at night from above and below: http://www.darkskyconsulting.com/blog/from-ground-to-sky-reconciling-light-pollution-measurements-from-above-and-below
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In order to fully understand how #LightPollution affects our world, we need to know how much of it is in which places. Divergent results from different measurement methods present some tension, but recent research suggests a way forward.
Read more about how we can reconcile views of the Earth at night from above and below: http://www.darkskyconsulting.com/blog/from-ground-to-sky-reconciling-light-pollution-measurements-from-above-and-below
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Another organism found to be navigating by the stars that could be confused by both #skyglow and #satellites.
To the extent that other moth species might also be using stars as navigation guides, and to the extent that some of those species pollinate our food crops, #DarkSkies are more important than ever.
https://www.sciencealert.com/tiny-moth-seen-navigating-by-the-stars-in-scientific-first
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The dramatic state of light pollution and sky glow in Belgium (figure for some upcoming work).
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The dramatic state of light pollution and sky glow in Belgium (figure for some upcoming work).
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Künstliches #Himmelsleuchten fördert das Wachstum potenziell giftiger #Cyanobakterien und verändert den #Kohlenstoffkreislauf in Seen.
Das passiert selbst bei minimaler Beleuchtung von nur 0,06 Lux. Das zeigte eine großangelegte Studie des Leibniz-Institut für Gewässerökologie und Binnenfischerei.
#Lichtverschmutzung wirkt damit weit über #Städte hinaus und beeinflusst empfindliche #Süßwasserökosysteme.
#Skyglow #Seenforschung #Blaualgen #Biodiversität #Ökosysteme
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Künstliches #Himmelsleuchten fördert das Wachstum potenziell giftiger #Cyanobakterien und verändert den #Kohlenstoffkreislauf in Seen.
Das passiert selbst bei minimaler Beleuchtung von nur 0,06 Lux. Das zeigte eine großangelegte Studie des Leibniz-Institut für Gewässerökologie und Binnenfischerei.
#Lichtverschmutzung wirkt damit weit über #Städte hinaus und beeinflusst empfindliche #Süßwasserökosysteme.
#Skyglow #Seenforschung #Blaualgen #Biodiversität #Ökosysteme
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New paper shows that moth numbers are reduced in areas with higher levels of #skyglow compared to areas with lower levels of skyglow, regardless of whether one is near streetlights or not: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2025.126068
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New paper shows that moth numbers are reduced in areas with higher levels of #skyglow compared to areas with lower levels of skyglow, regardless of whether one is near streetlights or not: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2025.126068
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It's worse than previously thought. "INNA would increase light pollution above the Very Large Telescope (VLT) by at least 35% and by more than 50% above the south site of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory."
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It's worse than previously thought. "INNA would increase light pollution above the Very Large Telescope (VLT) by at least 35% and by more than 50% above the south site of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory."
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Amazingly, in recent years, a few brave experimentalists have started to demonstrate the diffuse #skyglow really does affect the #environment. Here are a few of them. (9/17)
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Amazingly, in recent years, a few brave experimentalists have started to demonstrate the diffuse #skyglow really does affect the #environment. Here are a few of them. (9/17)
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We know that when artificial light shines directly from a light source onto living things at night, it affects their behavior and physiology. But what about the diffuse glow of the night sky, does that affect the environment?
Turns out it does. Read more in this brief thread 🧵
#Skyglow image by @andreas_jechow (1/17)
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We know that when artificial light shines directly from a light source onto living things at night, it affects their behavior and physiology. But what about the diffuse glow of the night sky, does that affect the environment?
Turns out it does. Read more in this brief thread 🧵
#Skyglow image by @andreas_jechow (1/17)
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"We quantified global artificial illuminance caused by #skyglow, finding that skyglow artificially doubled illuminance of new moon conditions—a critical phase for biological processes."
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fee.2832
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For some reason, 5 street lamps in our street died within the last few weeks.
They're usually repaired within a few days after reporting it, but I won't...
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For some reason, 5 street lamps in our street died within the last few weeks.
They're usually repaired within a few days after reporting it, but I won't...
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From the Editorial Board of the Washington Post: "Light pollution is also disrupting our health and natural ecosystems. But there are a few things people can do to help, and they might even save money, too."
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Fun to play jump'n'run game for understanding the problems #lightpollution poses to people and the dark sky via dialogues and little tasks and quizzes, to solve
- #lighttrespass
- #glare
- #skyglow -
Some good news from Zagreb - the sky has gotten darker during 2018-2022 🎉
Satellite data has a consistent small reduction in radiance.
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Observations at Mt. Stromlo, Australia, find a measurable decrease in night sky brightness attributed to dimming of streetlights in Canberra. "[F]or every 10 per cent the lights are dimmed, it's about a 5 per cent change in the glow of the sky."
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Observations at Mt. Stromlo, Australia, find a measurable decrease in night sky brightness attributed to dimming of streetlights in Canberra. "[F]or every 10 per cent the lights are dimmed, it's about a 5 per cent change in the glow of the sky."
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#LightPollution May Harm Our #Ocean’s Water-Filtering ‘#Ecosystem Engineers’
ByAllison Eck
Friday, May 1, 2015"#SeaSquirts are the ocean’s ecosystem engineers, siphoning #plankton from the water and keeping #CoastalEcosystems healthy. They’ve done their job for millennia relatively unscathed, in part because they have no predators. But now, they have one: #ManmadeLight [#ArtificialLight].
"A new study published in Biology Letters suggests that the artificial light from #cities might prevent the #larvae of some marine species—like sea squirts, #barnacles, and #corals—from finding appropriate habitats to settle in. Without landing on the right substrate, sea squirt larvae have little chance of surviving.
"Thomas Davies, an ecologist at the University of Exeter in the #UK, wanted to see which species are the most affected. He studied the #MenaiStrait, which separates the mainland of northwest #Wales from the island of #Anglesey. This area is largely unaffected by light pollution, which led Davies and his team of experts to suspect that an experiment conducted there would provide a good measure of the effect light pollution has on populations.
"By their measurements, the '#SkyGlow,' or ambient manmade light reflected onto the water by the atmosphere, is at a minimum—it barely amounts to the light emanated from the moon at night.
"To investigate the effect of artificial light on the area, they placed 36 plastic panels into the water and waited to see which organisms would settle on the panels. Some panels were exposed to light from cool, white #LEDs that emitted about the same amount of light produced by #streetlights, while the control panels mimicked just the small amount of ambient light scattered in the sky.
"The team retrieved the panels after 12 weeks to see how much of the panels’ surface area had been colonized. Sea squirts and sea bristles, both filter feeders, had lower colonization rates on the artificial light panels than the controls. On the flip side, #foulers like barnacles ended up clinging to the artificial light panels, which could explain why they so often attached to boat hulls and jetties. Barnacles in particular cost the global economy millions of dollars in reduced fuel economy and cleanup costs.
"Here’s Katie Wheeling, writing for Science: 'Overall, the study found that the lights either encouraged or discouraged settlement in 39% of the taxa, or groups of species, living on the panels by the end of the experiment period. Artificial light may be negatively impacting marine ecosystems by driving away certain invertebrate species, like filter feeders, and attracting others, the team reports.
"'More work needs to be done to understand how brightness, cycle of exposure, and wavelength of light affects individual species. In the future, experts may be able to configure exact spectra that work well with ocean species but also fill our own needs. For now, the team’s complex results indicate that we may need to pay more attention to how manmade light is damaging marine environments.'"
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#LightPollution May Harm Our #Ocean’s Water-Filtering ‘#Ecosystem Engineers’
ByAllison Eck
Friday, May 1, 2015"#SeaSquirts are the ocean’s ecosystem engineers, siphoning #plankton from the water and keeping #CoastalEcosystems healthy. They’ve done their job for millennia relatively unscathed, in part because they have no predators. But now, they have one: #ManmadeLight [#ArtificialLight].
"A new study published in Biology Letters suggests that the artificial light from #cities might prevent the #larvae of some marine species—like sea squirts, #barnacles, and #corals—from finding appropriate habitats to settle in. Without landing on the right substrate, sea squirt larvae have little chance of surviving.
"Thomas Davies, an ecologist at the University of Exeter in the #UK, wanted to see which species are the most affected. He studied the #MenaiStrait, which separates the mainland of northwest #Wales from the island of #Anglesey. This area is largely unaffected by light pollution, which led Davies and his team of experts to suspect that an experiment conducted there would provide a good measure of the effect light pollution has on populations.
"By their measurements, the '#SkyGlow,' or ambient manmade light reflected onto the water by the atmosphere, is at a minimum—it barely amounts to the light emanated from the moon at night.
"To investigate the effect of artificial light on the area, they placed 36 plastic panels into the water and waited to see which organisms would settle on the panels. Some panels were exposed to light from cool, white #LEDs that emitted about the same amount of light produced by #streetlights, while the control panels mimicked just the small amount of ambient light scattered in the sky.
"The team retrieved the panels after 12 weeks to see how much of the panels’ surface area had been colonized. Sea squirts and sea bristles, both filter feeders, had lower colonization rates on the artificial light panels than the controls. On the flip side, #foulers like barnacles ended up clinging to the artificial light panels, which could explain why they so often attached to boat hulls and jetties. Barnacles in particular cost the global economy millions of dollars in reduced fuel economy and cleanup costs.
"Here’s Katie Wheeling, writing for Science: 'Overall, the study found that the lights either encouraged or discouraged settlement in 39% of the taxa, or groups of species, living on the panels by the end of the experiment period. Artificial light may be negatively impacting marine ecosystems by driving away certain invertebrate species, like filter feeders, and attracting others, the team reports.
"'More work needs to be done to understand how brightness, cycle of exposure, and wavelength of light affects individual species. In the future, experts may be able to configure exact spectra that work well with ocean species but also fill our own needs. For now, the team’s complex results indicate that we may need to pay more attention to how manmade light is damaging marine environments.'"
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The extent and brightness of #skyglow depends significantly on what happens near the ground. Read more about how the #weather influences the brightness of the nighttime #environment both in the sky and on the ground, and what it means for the ways we measure and monitor light pollution.
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Our paper in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society on current challenges in measuring night sky brightness (with a particular emphasis on polarization measurements) is now published.
Read it here Open Access: https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article/doi/10.1093/mnras/stad3538/7425637
#LightPollution #DarkSkies #NightSkyBrightness #Skyglow #Polarization #Light #Astronomy
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Our paper in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society on current challenges in measuring night sky brightness (with a particular emphasis on polarization measurements) is now published.
Read it here Open Access: https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article/doi/10.1093/mnras/stad3538/7425637
#LightPollution #DarkSkies #NightSkyBrightness #Skyglow #Polarization #Light #Astronomy
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@skyglowberlin
I see why they call Paris "The City of Light"...🗼
#light_pollution #skyglow -
@skyglowberlin
I see why they call Paris "The City of Light"...🗼
#light_pollution #skyglow -
Included among the studies is one that shows that plants are already affected by #LightPollution at the level of #skyglow: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2022.0358#d88336563e1644s
(I am a co-author on this paper, my primary contribution was in advising the team in the setup and measurement of their light levels.)
(2/)
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Included among the studies is one that shows that plants are already affected by #LightPollution at the level of #skyglow: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2022.0358#d88336563e1644s
(I am a co-author on this paper, my primary contribution was in advising the team in the setup and measurement of their light levels.)
(2/)
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"Due to the further projected increase in the brightness of the night sky, ... observers in small towns will experience changes in the quality of the sky over the coming years, which will undoubtedly make astronomical observations difficult."
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-44423-w
#Astronomy #NightSky #LightPollution #Skyglow #Poland #Europe #Conservation #Environment
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Even though this article doesn’t address the question directly, just wondering aloud here: do ‘smart telescopes’ that use some form of AI enhancement undercut efforts to reduce light pollution? If (well-equipped) amateur astronomers can basically ‘defeat’ #skyglow this way, will they care at all about how much skyglow there is in any given location?
https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202309.0997/v1 -
Even though this article doesn’t address the question directly, just wondering aloud here: do ‘smart telescopes’ that use some form of AI enhancement undercut efforts to reduce light pollution? If (well-equipped) amateur astronomers can basically ‘defeat’ #skyglow this way, will they care at all about how much skyglow there is in any given location?
https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202309.0997/v1 -
For the next 50 days, this link will let you access our new paper, which shows that #skyglow affects bird behavior: https://tinyurl.com/skyglow-nightjar
Download a copy before the link expires! #LightPollution
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For the next 50 days, this link will let you access our new paper, which shows that #skyglow affects bird behavior: https://tinyurl.com/skyglow-nightjar
Download a copy before the link expires! #LightPollution
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"Our study shows that in the absence of direct light pollution, anthropogenic changes in sky brightness relieve nightjars from visual constraints on being active. Individuals adapt daily activities to artificial night-sky brightness, allowing them more time to fly than conspecifics living under natural light cycles. This modification of the nocturnal timescape likely affects behavioural processes of most crepuscular and nocturnal species."
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969723043838
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Here's a REALLY IMPORTANT new #LightPollution paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969723043838
#Nightjars are birds that typically fly during twilight and full moon. Ruben Evens shows that Nightjars have an opposite response to clouds in Mongolia compared to Belgium. This is evidence that #skyglow changes animal behavior!
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Looking at images of the Earth at night, people generally are struck by the 'beauty' of city lights, as if they were lights on a Christmas tree, but they actually show pollution and wasted energy.
It is like admiring the beauty of the rainbow colors that gasoline produces in water and not recognizing that it is chemical pollution.
It does not need to be this way. If you light more carefully, you should be able to reduce #skyglow, whilst still lighting the ground.
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Künstliches Licht schadet auf Dauer unserer Gesundheit und stört Ökosysteme. Ein Citizen-Science-Projekt hat jahrelang das Himmelsleuchten beobachtet – mit beunruhigendem Ergebnis.
Das künstliche Himmelsleuchten zerstört die Nacht -
"In this work, we propose a specification structure for light sources with nonstandard chromaticities to increase the precision of language used in the architectural #lighting industry and demonstrate that light sources with well-defined chromaticity ranges outside of the ANSI C78.377–2017 quadrangles may be useful for reducing the portion of relative #skyglow related to light source spectral power distribution."
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15502724.2022.2121285