Star-gazing and Dark Skies

Long ago, I used to walk of an evening on a dirt road in Autumn where I looked for the familiar, pointy-roofed Little House and the slightly uneven Big W in the Sky.  Years later, when my husband and son built a telescope and talked about stars all the time, I found out the ancient Greeks saw the Little House as the hat worn by Cepheus, the husband of the African queen, Cassiopeia.  She sits near Cepheus (perhaps chained) in her chair marked by the five bright stars that form the Big W in the Sky.  Cassiopeia and Cepheus were mortals that offended the sea god Poseidon who set images of them in the sky.  Their daughter, Andromeda, and her husband, Perseus, are found nearby.

Cassiopeia and Cepheus are close to the Pole star and across the sky from the Big Dipper.  In Connecticut, all three of these star groups may be seen year round at different times of night (if you do not have too many trees at your viewing point).  Through the night, as the heavens “turn,” the constellations change their orientation in the sky, so Cassiopeia’s big W can also look like an M or even a Σ (the Greek upper case sigma) or a 3.  Sometimes the Big Dipper (which is a portion of the Greek’s Great Bear) looks like it could hold water, and sometimes not.

The ancient Greeks perceived the constellations as gods, goddesses, human and other beings who were not only involved in Earth’s realm of land and water, but who also lived as conscious entities in the celestial realm.  While modern peoples typically no longer feel a spiritual connection to the star beings in the sky, there are, nonetheless, very strong physical and biological connections between the sky and Earth.  If you have spent time at the seashore, you probably know that the moon’s position influences the timing of the lowest low and the highest high tides.  Perhaps lesser known are the ways living organisms on land and in the sea respond to the night sky.

In today’s world the responses of living organisms to the night sky are being widely disrupted by light pollution of an intensity many times brighter than that of a full moon.  If you are a stargazer, you may have experienced intense light pollution when city lights lit up the sky so much you could not even find the Big Dipper.

Migrating birds face much more drastic consequences when their night-time navigation is confused and they are drawn to brightly lit areas where they circle and circle around lit up tall buildings or communication towers (dying of exhaustion and falling to the ground or crashing into the structures). 

Birds are not the only animals to become disoriented by light pollution.  Sea turtles hatching from eggs laid on a beach are genetically programmed to move away from the dark horizon of the shore to find the brighter water.  Where the coast is lit up, the ocean looks dark and the turtle hatchlings travel away from the water, ultimately getting run over in the streets or otherwise perishing.

There are human health studies that tie excessive night time light to increased medical disorders (heart disease, insomnia, depression, and even breast cancer).   Excess night time light disrupts natural day/night rhythms and can affect hormone production as well.  While animals have not been studied as intensively as human health, studies have shown animals too suffer a variety of physiological consequences from excess light. 

Species that rely on darkness for protection are more exposed to being eaten by predators when dark skies are brightly lit.  Further, one might consider the potential ill effects of constant night light on the breeding success of spotted salamanders waiting for the signal of a moist and moonless dark night to know that it is time to travel from all directions to congregate in their breeding pools.

Can anything be done about light pollution?

Some things are pretty easy to accomplish.  For example, you can point and shield all outdoor lighting so it sends light down to a target area, not outward or up into the sky.  Place light fixtures as low as possible to lessen the amount of light spilling beyond the target area.  In addition, where only for display, lights can be turned off altogether.  Otherwise, they might be put on motion sensors or dimmers rather than shining all night long.

You, personally, can serve as a role model.  Refrain from decorating your outdoor landscaping with lights, most especially those that shine upward into the sky.  At night, use window shades or turn off lights in rooms you are not using.  Consider zippered shades for your skylights. If you have a security light, make sure that it projects light downward only, and keep it on an electric eye so it comes on only when movement is detected.

A change in aesthetics is needed.  Office buildings with sky-facing roof top lighting, brightly lit interior windows, and decorative lighting of the outside of the buildings may be artistically beautiful.  But, unfortunately, they are death traps for migrating birds. It is recommended that unneeded lights be kept off particularly during the spring and fall migration seasons.

Large buildings are not the only issue.  When lit up at night, playing fields blaze intensely into the sky.  Networks of lit up highways, streets and parking lots add up to a huge contribution to light pollution.  Interestingly, although many people feel that increased street lighting reduces crime, studies have not found this to be true.

Connecticut has a variety of state statutes and regulations aimed at reducing light pollution.  Most deal with shielding for outdoor lighting on state buildings, public roads and other places such as public schools to prevent light from spilling beyond its target or creating glare.  Some deal with building construction or renovation standards.

Currently, for state-owned buildings in Connecticut, there is an innovative bill in the state legislature to protect night-migrating birds from collisions with brightly lit buildings. It requires non-essential inside and outside lights on state-owned buildings to be turned off from 11 pm to 6 am during peak migration periods (defined in this bill as March 15 through May 31 and August 15 through November 15).  (https://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/CGABillStatus/cgabillstatus.asp?selBillType=Bill&bill_num=HB06607&which_year=2023)

For further information, the International Dark Sky Association (https://www.darksky.org/) is a very good resource for information on light pollution and how you can help.  There is a Connecticut chapter with Leo@smith.net as the contact.