How an astronaut deals with annoying streetlamps

[Sidereus]

The awesomesauce starts about 1:30 into the video: http://youtu.be/rXrcm7DgDbA

[Bidule]

Wow! .... Wow WOW!

[RainDreamer]

Is that...legal?

[Starwhip]

Is that...legal?

Probably not...

[jmiki8]

Btw, why is it good to turn one streetlamp off? Even in little towns the light pollution is so high that you can only see the brightest sky objects. I usually go out for astrophoto trips in Balatonalmádi (it has a population of 9000), next to a large lake (Balaton), yet I have to move 5-10 kms away from there in order to see most stars.

Edited February 20, 2015 by jmiki8

[Sidereus]

Btw, why is it good to turn one streetlamp off? Even in little towns the light pollution is so high that you can only see the brightest sky objects. I usually go out for astrophoto trips in Balatonalmádi (it has a population of 9000), next to a large lake (Balaton), yet I have to move 5-10 kms away from there in order to see most stars.

It would be nice to be able to turn them all off, but that one seemed to particularly annoy him because of how close it was. The closer ones cause glare and make it harder for your eyes to adjust to the dark.

[Tommygun]

Well one of the criteria for selecting astronauts is their problem solving abilities.........

[Vanamonde]

Won't be so funny if a dog or pedestrian gets run over in the dark spot left by the light. Don't try this at home.

[Sidereus]

Won't be so funny if a dog or pedestrian gets run over in the dark spot left by the light. Don't try this at home.

Odds of that are pretty low, particularly if he only does it while observing. We also don't know how dense the neighborhood is. It's fairly likely he's out in the 'burbs, or quite possibly in a rural area where there probably aren't many pedestrians.

I live on a road with only one street light, and it's about a mile away. Only reason it's there is because the people who own the house there convinced the electric company to let them install one. We get by fine.

[razark]

Won't be so funny if a dog or pedestrian gets run over in the dark spot left by the light.

I'd be more worried about a slight misalignment leading to the laser catching an aircraft.

We also don't know how dense the neighborhood is. It's fairly likely he's out in the 'burbs, or quite possibly in a rural area where there probably aren't many pedestrians.

Pretty sure it's a suburban area. Double check a few things, and...

Yup. Very suburban, and a rather nice part of it as well. (In fact, it's less than a mile from my parents' house if you follow the roads.) One streetlight out is not going to hurt things. There's so much light pollution in Clear Lake that you can barely get a decent view of the stars anyway.

[Camacha]

People need to be able to deal with a single light being out anyway. If you cannot, you do not belong in traffic.

[cantab]

You can't do much about the general skyglow, apart from travelling to a darker place, but what I call "local lights" spoil your dark adaptation and prevent you seeing the deep sky objects that would be visible.

That said, while this works and causes no permanent damage I'm not sure it's a good idea. If there ever is an accident in the area you could find yourself being sued.