Report for 2002-05-03
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Brought to you from beautiful Park City, "View-tah".

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Contents
	This Weeks Issue	The Utah Skies Website
	Astronomical Times Viewing Outlook Space Weather Update Mission Update Comet Watch Lunar Phase Planetary Report Hubble Vision Constellation Report Deep Sky Report IDA-Utah Light Pollution Update	Astro-photographer of the Month Deep Sky Observers Hubble Vision IDA-Utah Light Pollution Update Weekly Report

Star Party
Mark your calendar. Utah Skies will be holding a star party this Saturday night, May 4th from 9:00pm until 1:00am. We'll start the night off with views of a rare planetary conjunction. All 5 "classical" planets will be visible in the western sky shortly after sunset (show up early if you want to see them all). Working from west to east, we'll see Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Mars, and Jupiter. Of course we'll visit a host of deep sky wonders such as the Whirlpool Galaxy, The Hercules Star Cluster and The Ring Nebula... to name just a few :) Checkout our viewing guide for additional details and an on-line map for directions. Hope to see you there!
Astronomical Times
Sunrise: 6:24 am	Sunset: 8:24 pm
Astronomical Twilight Begins: 4:38 am	Astronomical Twilight Ends: 10:10 pm
Moonrise: 2:31 am	Moonset: 11:59 am

Viewing Outlook

After a serious dose of Park City "spring weather", things appear to be getting back to ... normal :) Skies have cleared a bit finally and we even got to do some viewing. The weekend forecast sounds less than optimal, but... hey.. we'll take what we can get, right? Plus... we still could use the water. There is a beautiful planetary alignment in the western sky taking shape after sundown. All the "classical" planets (those which have been known since antiquity) will be lined up from west to east. Mercury has finally joined the lineup...low and to the west. Venus continues to blaze in the west as it creeps higher and higher in the sky. Mars a fraction of it's former self shines next to the Pleiades star cluster. Saturn has faded significantly, but still outshines most of the stars in the sky. Saturn seems to be fading fastest at this point. Look for it to make the largest moves west. This is especially pronounced given that Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter are all moving east. And then finally we have Jupiter... the king of the planets. It shines brightly just west of overhead after sunset. Jupiter is only outshined by Venus in the evening sky.  Viewing the alignment does not require any special equipment. Since the planets span such a wide section of the sky, no telescope or binoculars can see all of them simultaneously. All you need is a relatively flat horizon to the west to view the spectacle. If you've got obstructions to the west, you'll have trouble spying Mercury as it never really gets high enough to be seen in a dark sky. This event will continue for a couple more weeks. In fact, the tightest grouping of the planets will occur on May 14th when all five planets will be within a 33° span. So... don't feel rushed to get out there and see it. On the other hand... the next time this will happen is in 2040... So... don't wait too long either.  I took the accompanying image on May 1st from my home in Park City with a 28mm lens operating at f/3.5

Space Weather Update

There was a massive "back-side" CME on May 1. Being a back side event means that the blast was not Earth-directed. As you can see from the accompanying image, the face of the Sun is pretty low on sunspots. This means that we're unlikely to have any major solar activity in the near future :(

Mission Update

The International Space Station will make several passes over the northern Utah in the coming week. Your best shot for viewing this, the brightest object in the sky will be on Wednesday morning at 5:20am when the station takes three minute journey across the sky. You can easily spot the ISS without any optical aid. Checkout NASA's Human Spaceflight website for times when the ISS will be visible in your area. Then, grab your binoculars or telescope and see what kind of detail you can pick out. Or... just go and eyeball humans in space. .  The International Space Station got a bit larger the other day. Astronauts recently added this huge truss section which will allow for future growth. Future growth includes a pair of Japanese and European built laboratories. Want more info? Checkout this NASA site. Visit CNN/Space to find out more.

Images are steadily coming back from the Mars Odyssey Spacecraft.. Image which might indicate a wet past... and maybe future for Mars. Water on Mars? Yup. That's the conclusion many are coming to as available information increases.   Checkout this recently released image from the Mars Odyssey Spacecraft. It appears that a section of the Martian surface was scratched by a giant claw. "White Rock" is the unofficial name for this unusual landform which was first observed during the Mariner 9 mission in the early 1970's. As later analysis of additional data sets would show, White Rock is neither white nor dense rock. Its apparent brightness arises from the fact that the material surrounding it is so dark. Images from the Mars Global Surveyor MOC camera revealed dark sand dunes surrounding White Rock and on the floor of the troughs within it.

Comet Watch: Comet Ikeya-Zhang

Comet Ikeya-Zhang continues to fade. It is now down to mag5.5, just beyond naked eye visibility. The comet has traveled so far north that It is currently visible in both the morning sky and the evening sky. In fact, if you have a clear view to the north you may be able to watch it all night. How can the comet be visible all night??? Good question. The reason is that the comet is now far enough north that is now circumpolar, and never sets. The comet reached that point a week or so ago for observers living at or above mid-northern latitudes... ie.. NY, Chicago, Denver, SLC, San Fran. This should make it easy for more people to view it. And, since it's still pretty bright, April will be a good month for viewing the comet.  I took this image using a 120mm f/5 refractor. It is the result of a two minute exposure using 800 speed film.

The accompanying image shows the path Comet Ikeya-Zhang will take on it's trip around the Sun. Notice how the tail of the comet changes direction as it rounds the Sun. This is caused by the solar wind. In fact, it was this very behavior which first caused astronomers to speculate about the presence of a solar wind. If there were no wind, one would expect the tail of a comet to always trail behind, but... as this image shows, the tail of the comet always points away from the Sun. Cool, huh? You can also see that the comet has recently passed between the Earth and the Sun and is now visible in the morning sky. I'm really looking forward to some clear skies so that I can take a peek and snap some pics.  Hopefully I'll be able to capture some good pictures and add them to the report soon.

Lunar Phase

The moon will reach last quarter tomorrow night (5/4)... just in time for our star party :) Rising well after midnight and setting around midday, the moon will be out of our way as we search out deep sky treasures..  Checkout this cool shot of the moon by the European Southern Observatory. Details like this ARE visible in modest amateur telescopes.

Planetary Report

In this section, we visit the planets in the order in which they are currently rising. We do our best to track down the finest images available.  for 2002.  As an added feature, you may also click on any of the planetary images to view a planetary reference page filled with important facts about the planet.

Neptune 8th planet Rising 2:40am Visual Magnitude 7.91 Visual Diameter 2" Distance 30.04 AU Constellation Capricornus Checkout the accompanying Voyager 2 image of Neptune. Notice the detail in the planets cloud deck. Neptune has spots... just like Jupiter. These spots are huge storms. Neptune is a relatively easy target when viewed at the right time. That time, however is not now. Neptune is rising just before astronomical twilight begins. In other words, Neptune never really gets high enough in the sky for optimal viewing before the sky starts to brighten. It'll be best viewed in late summer and the fall, when it will high in the sky for hours before dawn. Almost star-like in binoculars, it shows it's beautiful blue color in telescopes. Neptune gets this beautiful blue coloring from a layer of Methane in its upper atmosphere. Located over 2.84 billion miles from Earth, Neptune has a huge circular orbit -- taking just over 164 years to orbit the Sun. In fact, Neptune's orbit varies by less than 1% from circular. Neptune has a couple of other claims to fame... It has the fastest wind speeds in the solar system with gust at almost 1500 mph. Similar to Jupiter, it is categorized as a gas giant. Neptune is roughly 17 times more massive than the Earth. In another similarity to Jupiter, Neptune has a  Great Dark Spot. William Herschel is credited with the discovery of Neptune in 1781. However, it had been recorded in several catalogs as a star as far back as 1690.

Uranus 7th planet Rising 3:35 am Visual Magnitude 5.85 Visual Diameter 3" Distance 20.25 AU Constellation Aquarius Checkout this shot of Uranus. You can clearly see several of it's moons in this image. At almost 2 billion miles away, this is one tough shot to make from Earth! Uranus is a relatively easy target. However, this is another tiny planet at only 3".  It is also rising at almost the same time as the sun. So... you'll have to wait a few months to seek it out. Additionally, given it's tiny size, It displays absolutely no surface detail. It does however show it's beautiful aquamarine color. Uranus also gets its beautiful coloring from a layer of Methane in its upper atmosphere. Located over 1.92 billion miles from Earth, Uranus has a huge orbit -- taking just over 84 years to orbit the Sun. It is categorized as a gas giant as is Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune. Uranus is roughly 14 times more massive than the Earth. Discovered by William Herschel in March of 1781, Uranus was the first planet to be "discovered". All the others are plainly visible, and hence have been known since antiquity. The name Uranus was suggested for mythological reasons. Since Jupiter was the father of Saturn, it made sense to name the next planet out Uranus -- the father of Saturn.

Mercury 1st planet Rising 7:20 am Visual Magnitude 0.34 Visual Diameter 8" Distance 0.86 AU Constellation Taurus The accompanying Mariner 10 image of Mercury's southwest quadrant reveals the amount of destruction brought upon the planet by comets and meteors. Since Mercury has no atmosphere, every object coming its way is able to score a direct hit. This image was taken a the spacecraft made it's closest pass to the planet at a distance of about 120,000 miles. The largest craters are about 60 miles in diameter. Mercury has gotten really bright over the last several weeks. It is now rising about 55 minutes after the Sun. So... you've got about 55 minutes after sunset to spy tiny Mercury above the western horizon. Mercury will climb even higher in the next week or so making this the best time all year to spy the tiny planet. Mercury has dimmed slightly though... so your task isn't getting that much easier :)

Venus 2nd planet Rising 7:50 am Visual Magnitude -3.94 Visual Diameter 11" Distance 1.46 AU Constellation Taurus Checkout this cool shot of Venus from the Galileo Spacecraft taken as it swung past the planet a couple of years ago. Since Venus has such dense clouds, we can not see through to the surface. Nevertheless, we can learn quite a bit anyway. Astronomers have studied the winds and atmospheric composition of the planet. Venus is now rising about 75 minutes after the sun... it has slowly but surely moved to take up its role as the Evening Star. Many of you have no doubt seen it blazing away in the western sky after sunset. Watch as it climbs higher and higher over the next few months. By late spring and through the summer and Fall, Venus will dominate the night sky.  Did you know that Venus goes through phases? No... not those kind of phases... Phases of illumination, like the moon. It's true. Venus is current a round 96% illuminated sphere. As it climbs higher in the sky (larger angular separation from the Sun) the illuminated portion shrinks. By the time Venus is only 1/2 illuminated, it will have brightened to mag -4.3. It will continue to brighten to about mag -4.7 late in the fall when it reaches its greatest elongation (angular separation from the Sun). At that point, Venus will be only about 1/4 illuminated, but will have grown to over 44".

Mars 4th planet Rising 8:05 am Visual Magnitude 1.63 Visual Diameter 4" Distance 2.36 AU Constellation Taurus Checkout this sweet image captured by the orbiting Mars Global Surveyor.  Notice how much ice had accumulated at the south polar region. The Earth continues to pull away from Mars in it's orbit. In fact, the distance between the two planets has grown from about 40 million miles this summer to over 175 million miles. This has caused Mars' apparent diameter to shrink. It is currently down to a measly 4".. a tiny fraction of it's peak of 21" in June. In fact, this is just about as small as Mars ever gets. It has also dimmed significantly as well - currently shining at a wimpy magnitude 1.57 down from -2.4 in June.  Mars will return for an even better pass in 2003. In the mean time, we can live vicariously through the works of the Maple Ridge Observatory. If you haven't checked out their website, I'd highly recommend it. It's loaded with many awesome planetary and deep sky image that'll blow your mind.

Saturn 6th planet Rising 8:20 am Visual Magnitude 0.11 Visual Diameter 17" Distance 9.90 AU Constellation Taurus Checkout this absolutely amazing mage of Saturn as captured by Ed Grafton. What an awesome shot. Notice the innermost ring. It's called the Crepe ring and it's almost transparent. Just so you know... this image was not taken from an observatory. Nope. This was taken from his backyard in Houston, Tx. Look for Saturn well west of overhead as it gets dark. If you haven't been looking at Saturn recently, you'd better start. It's gonna be gone soon :(   At this point, Saturn sets about 1.5 hours after the Sun. Saturn has currently spanning about 17" -- this is well shy of it's peak size and is currently shining at magnitude 0.13 -- which is also down considerably from its brightest. Don't waste any time... NOW is a great time to view Saturn. It will stick around through the remainder of the winter and into the spring, but.. your views will be best RIGHT NOW.

Jupiter 5th planet Rising 10:10 am Visual Magnitude -2.00 Visual Diameter 35" Distance 5.67 AU Constellation Gemini Here's another beautiful image by Ed Grafton.  This is a very cool shot! In fact, his whole website is loaded with awesome images like this. Notice the inky dark spot in the upper left. That is actually the shadow created by Jupiter's moon Ganymede. Jupiter is the king of the Planets. It is more massive than all the other planets combined. In fact, Jupiter is over 300 times more massive than the Earth. Not surprisingly, Jupiter also has the largest moon in the solar system, Ganymede. Jupiter is currently shining at mag -2.07 and spans 36". This is off quite a bit from it's peak of 47" earlier this winter...  It too has passed the meridian by the time it gets dark. You'd better take advantage of what's left of the good Jupiter views. They won't get any better till next fall.  If you're planning on viewing Jupiter's Great Red Spot, you'll want to checkout this Sky and Telescope article which contains a list of Great Red Spot Transit Times.  Many of the features visible in this image are within the reach of modest amateur telescopes. And why not? These images were taken from suburban Houston using a 14" Celestron. Depending on the size of the telescope and the quality of your skies, you might even do better! In fact, on a few amazingly steady nights I have. I'll remind you again. You have to check out the tools section of the Utah Skies website for a cool java applet which depicts the relative position of the four major Jovian moons and their shadows. It's called JavaJup. I regularly refer to JavaJup to help plan my viewing sessions.

Pluto 9th planet Rising 11:35 pm Visual Magnitude 13.82 Visual Diameter <1" Distance 29.67 AU Constellation Ophiuchus Checkout this awesome series captured by Gordon Waite. This series depicts how Pluto was originally discovered. After years of searching for a planet beyond Neptune, Clyde Tombaugh in 1930 came upon Pluto. His was not a simple discovery. He didn't just scan the sky with his telescope and see Pluto. Nope. He took countless images of the sky. Each image would be compared to an image taken days or weeks earlier. While the stars are essentially motionless over short periods of time, solar system objects would appear to move. On February 18, 1930, Tombaugh compared images taken on January 23rd with images taken on January 29th. While blinking the images, a technique which alternates the images from one side to the other, he noticed that one of the stars moved. That star was actually the planet Pluto. And so on that fateful day, the population of our solar system increased by one. No other planets have been found in our solar system since! Pluto has brightened another whopping .01! But don't get too excited, it's still a tiny, faint little spec in a telescope... any telescope.  It is currently over 2.8 billion miles from Earth. Located in the southeastern sky before sunrise, Pluto is also not very well placed at this point for viewing. You'll have a much better chance of viewing Pluto late in the spring or in the summer. (Just in case you're having trouble, you should see Pluto dancing towards the lower left corner of the image. If you don't, hit your browsers "Reload" button.)

Hubble Vision

The Hubble Space Telescope has distinguished itself as a premier source of astronomical images. Amazing HST images have graced the covers of major magazines and newspapers worldwide. In recognition of the amazing advances in astronomy and physics which have come from Hubble discoveries, we'd like to devote a section of this report to some of these incredible images, and share some of them with you. Our latest comes directly from the Hubble Heritage Team. We've got a special treat for you in this weeks Hubble Vision section. These are the first shots made public from the new camera installed in the Hubble Space Telescope. I'm sure you'll agree that these shots are even more impressive than previous Hubble products.

Faraway Galaxies Provide a Stunning "Wallpaper" Backdrop for a Runaway Galaxy Against a stunning backdrop of thousands of galaxies, this odd-looking galaxy with the long streamer of stars appears to be racing through space, like a runaway pinwheel firework.   This picture of the galaxy UGC 10214 was taken by the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), which was installed aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in March during Servicing Mission 3B. Dubbed the "Tadpole," this spiral galaxy is unlike the textbook images of stately galaxies. Its distorted shape was caused by a small interloper, a very blue, compact galaxy visible in the upper left corner of the more massive Tadpole. The Tadpole resides about 420 million light-years away in the constellation Draco.  Seen shining through the Tadpole's disk, the tiny intruder is likely a hit-and-run galaxy that is now leaving the scene of the accident. Strong gravitational forces from the interaction created the long tail of debris, consisting of stars and gas that stretch out more than 280,000 light-years.   Numerous young blue stars and star clusters, spawned by the galaxy collision, are seen in the spiral arms, as well as in the long "tidal" tail of stars. Each of these clusters represents the formation of up to about a million stars. Their color is blue because they contain very massive stars, which are 10 times hotter and 1 million times brighter than our Sun. Once formed, the star clusters become redder with age as the most massive and bluest stars exhaust their fuel and burn out. These clusters will eventually become old globular clusters similar to those found in essentially all halos of galaxies, including our own Milky Way.   Two prominent clumps of young bright blue stars in the long tail are separated by a "gap" — a section that is fainter than the rest of the tail. These clumps of stars will likely become dwarf galaxies that orbit in the Tadpole's halo.   The galactic carnage and torrent of star birth are playing out against a spectacular backdrop: a "wallpaper pattern" of 6,000 galaxies. These galaxies represent twice the number of those discovered in the legendary Hubble Deep Field, the orbiting observatory's "deepest" view of the heavens, taken in 1995 by the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2. The ACS picture, however, was taken in one-twelfth the time it took to observe the original Hubble Deep Field. In blue light, ACS sees even fainter objects than were seen in the "deep field." The galaxies in the ACS picture, like those in the deep field, stretch back to nearly the beginning of time. They are a myriad of shapes and represent fossil samples of the universe's 13-billion-year evolution.   The ACS image is so sharp that astronomers can identify distant colliding galaxies, the "building blocks" of galaxies, an exquisite "Whitman's Sampler" of galaxies, and many extremely faraway galaxies.   ACS made this observation on April 1 and 9, 2002. The color image is constructed from three separate images taken in near-infrared, orange, and blue filters.   Credit: NASA and the ACS Science Team

Constellation Report

Our Constellation Report is an easy way for people to become familiar with the nighttime sky. We’ll discuss myths associated with a particular constellation as well as describing the numerous deep sky objects residing within its boundaries. No equipment is required to view the constellations, though a star chart can be quite helpful. This ease of observing makes constellations a natural place to begin your journey to the stars.  This weekend we move on to the constellation Virgo, the Maiden.  To find Virgo's brightest star Spica, remember how we found Arcturus last week in Bootes. Follow the arc of the big dipper to Arcturus... then speed on to Spica :) It's a corny astronomy association, but... if it works... use it. As the accompanying image shows, Virgo is a large constellation. In fact, it is the 2nd largest constellation. Virgo is located below Leo... and Coma Berenices... and Bootes. Our main focus is the area between Denebola an Vindemiatrix.

Deep Sky Report

The focus of our efforts this week will be the deep sky objects of Virgo. First up, let me tell you that the area between Denebola, in the tail of Leo and Vindemiatrix in Virgo is home to the densest collection of galaxies visible to amateur astronomers. Known as The Virgo Cluster, this area is home to almost a dozen Messier galaxies in Virgo alone. Add in smaller, more remote galaxies which were beyond the reach of Messier's small telescope and you have a visual smorgasbord. A deep sky observer with a large telescope under dark skies could spend an eternity in this small patch of sky. We'll show you some of the "choice" objects. A quick look at the accompanying map gives you a clue to just how packed this area is with galaxies. Your problem won't be in finding galaxies... your real problem will be identifying them. If you have at least 4" of aperture under dark skies (larger aperture always helps :) you'll spy dozens of galaxies between Denebola and Vindemiatrix. As you increase the aperture, you'll dramatically increase the number of galaxies you see.  While we're at it, we also have to mention Alpha Virgo, Spica. This is the 16th brightest star in the sky. Spica can be used as a reference star as it is exactly mag 1.0. It does vary slightly above and below periodically. It is also the constellations guidepost star, being the most prominent star. Astronomers estimate Spica to be 2300 times brighter than our Sun. for 2002. We've added high resolution star charts for all of our deep sky objects. Along with the map of the constellation which we've always had, clicking on any of the deep sky objects will bring up a high resolution star chart centered on that object. Hope this helps.

Ok, let's start things off with Elliptical Galaxy M49(mag8.37). M49 was the first member of the Virgo cluster of galaxies discovered, by Charles Messier. It is also one of the largest galaxies in the cluster at over 160,000 light years in diameter. This big, bright, round galaxy is relatively easy to find... even in binoculars. You'll notice the mag12 star which has breached the galaxies perimeter. This is a member of our galaxy superimposed on M49.

Next we'll hit Barred Spiral Galaxy M58(mag9.78). This is another of the brightest galaxies in the Virgo cluster. It is also one of only four barred spiral galaxies in the Messier List. This galaxy will show some detail in telescopes as small as 8".

Next we'll hit Elliptical Galaxy M59(mag9.79). Yet another of the largest galaxies...this time of the Ellipticals. While not in the same league as M87 (below) it is nonetheless a dominant member in the cluster. In case you were wondering... M59 is the galaxy to the lower left of the image. M60 is along the right edge.

Next we'll hit Elliptical Galaxy M60(mag8.83). Located approximately 60 million light years distant, M60 is the eastern most member of the Virgo cluster. It is also very large, spanning roughly 120,000 light years in diameter. M60 is pictured here with NGC4647.

Next we'll hit Spiral Galaxy M61(mag9.67). This galaxy is also located about 60 million light years distant. With a diameter of about 100,000 light years it is roughly the same size as our own Milky Way galaxy. With dark skies and additional aperture, you should begin to make out the spiral arms. Increasing the aperture should even show you some mottled structure in the spiral arms themselves. The core remains essentially stellar. Does this image look familiar? It should. This is a Robert Gendler image. Pretty cool, huh?

Next we'll hit Elliptical Galaxy M84(mag9.29). Located towards the center of the cluster, M84 has a relatively rare feature. It contains two small jets which can be seen in radio telescope. These jets are believed to be associated with a super-massive black hole of approximately 300 BILLION solar masses. M84 and M86 are located within 1° of each other. So.. you should see both of them in the same wide field of view. You'll also see quite a few other smaller galaxies as well.

Next we'll hit Elliptical Galaxy M86(mag9.18). This is another of the giant galaxies located near the heart of the Virgo cluster. While not quite as impressive as some of it's neighbors, it is nonetheless one of the "anchor tenants" of the Virgo cluster.

Next we'll hit Elliptical Galaxy M87(mag8.62). This giant is perhaps the largest galaxy known. Estimates place its mass as high as 2.7 TRILLION solar masses! M87 also has high speed jets emanating from its core... an indicator of a super-massive black hole lurking in it's core. The view of M87 does not improve dramatically with increased aperture. It's perimeter pushes out further, but surprisingly not much additional detail is revealed. Larger aperture will reveal some of the close companion galaxies which orbit the behemoth.

Next we'll hit Spiral Galaxy M89(mag9.81). This is another galaxy with high speed jets emanating from it's core. No... your eyesight is not failing you. These jets are not captured in visible light. They seem to show up best in radio telescopes.

Next we'll hit Spiral Galaxy M90(mag9.48). This is one of the largest spirals in the Virgo cluster... and a beauty too.

Next we'll hit Spiral Galaxy M104(mag8.3). Also known as the Sombrero Galaxy, this galaxy is a showpiece object. The longer you look at it the more detail it reveals. Of course.. throwing some additional aperture and dark skies at it never hurts :) In the 25", this is simply an incredible sight. The dust lane which dominates this image is clearly visible in the eyepiece. This will undoubtedly be one of the favorites at Saturday nights star party! This image was captured by the VLT... Very Large Telescope. I kid you not. That's its name... It's also a perfect description. The ultimate goal of this effort is to build four-8 meter telescopes... and get them to operate as one.  This image came from one of the telescopes. I can't wait to see what kind of images the four of them are capable of creating.

Ok... so there's been all this talk of the Virgo Cluster... what exactly does the Virgo Cluster look like? Lets take a step back and view a large portion of the Virgo cluster. This Robert Gendler image should give you a feel for just how many galaxies are in this area.

Let's wrap things up with this weeks Utah Skies Challenge Object, Elliptical Galaxy NGC4697(mag9.3). Also known as Caldwell 52 this object shouldn't be all that tough for you. I suspect you could find it pretty easily in a 4" telescope...perhaps even large astro-binoculars??? Good Luck!

If you are able to find all of these objects, you may be one of the few, the proud, the Deep Sky Obsessed.  E-mail your findings to DeepSkyObservations@UtahSkies.org.

IDA-Utah Light Pollution Update

Checkout the recent CNN article on Light Pollution.  Non-Compliant Merchants What would we do if we discovered a local merchant that sold cigarettes to minors? I'll bet there would be a huge outcry from the public and a quick visit from the sheriff. Would there be prison time or fines levied? Possibly. Would the merchant be forced to close shop? Possibly. What about a merchant that sold alcohol after hours? You can be sure that the Department of Alcohol Beverage Control would fine them and shut them down immediately. Well, what about merchants who sell products which conflict with county ordinances? More specifically, what about a merchant which sells exterior lighting fixtures which did not comply with the county's exterior lighting ordinances? You think that would never happen? Guess again. It happens every single day of the week! And, (probably) more surprisingly... it happens at virtually every retailer that sells outdoor lighting products. Really! I went and paid a visit to several retailers who carry exterior lights. Across the board, the lights on display at each of these merchants did not comply with county lighting ordinances. I'm not talking a couple of lights here.... not even a few... but most. By my estimate, over 95% of the lights on display at these very well known retailers could NOT legally be installed in Summit County! That's right. If you the home or business owner went to one of these stores and bought exterior lights from them and installed them on your home or business.... you just made you property non-compliant. To give you an example of how blatant a violation this is, I went into a vendor looking for good, compliant lights for my home. Not seeing any lights which complied with county codes, I questioned the sales person. He told me that "nobody pays attention to those ordinances anyway". I kid you not. Not that there aren't a wide range of compliant lights available. These merchants simply chose to ignore the law and sell these other styles. So... what are we going to do about this? Should the Sheriff go and close those vendors down or force them to immediately remove all non-compliant fixtures? Should they be fined or jailed? What exactly are we to do when merchants who deliberately choose to ignore the law? Mind you... these are not recent ordinance changes that they haven't yet had time to deal with. These are county ordinances which have been on the books for over five years. Clearly, this is a complete disregard for the law and can not be tolerated. Checkout the IDA-Utah website at www.UtahSkies.org/ida for more information on the harmful effects of improper lighting or for ideas on how to improve your lighting. Please contact us with any questions you may have or to Volunteer to help us in the fight to curb light pollution.

Next Weeks Report

Next week, we'll continue our journey through the cosmos and focus on the constellation Hydra.

 

Stay up to date on astronomical happenings by regularly checking the Utah Skies website at http://www.UtahSkies.org     < | Index | >