That's a pretty amazing picture. The whole eastern half of the country is one big glowfest! Another reason to be glad we don't live there... Though SoCal looks much the same, sadly.

There have been a couple of times recently when I've been somewhere dark enough to see the Milky Way (specifically, N. Arizona at our family cabin, and this weekend driving through farmlands on our way to S. Oregon), and I realized how long it had been since I'd been in a place where I could see it - or even a place where a majority of the stars are visible. That made me a little sad. I would love to live in the boonies somewhere where it's very dark and very quiet at night (provided I had a big dog and a rifle, that is).

Me, I'm just saddenned by this line...

"But at least one, San Diego, decided to switch back to high-pressure sodium after residents complained that the yellow pall cast by low-pressure sodium bulbs made them uneasy."

Scott

I find Tess's comment about needing a big dog and a rifle far more entertaining than that bit about sodium vapor lamps, SCK. I've given up on San Diegans for a while now.

Tucson, not surprisingly, has a fairly educated population where light pollution is concerned. They used to have this program where the city would give you low-wattage colored light bulbs for your porch lights and such. And they have their street lights spaced out at unnerving distances. It's kinda cool when you think about it.

I liked the low-wattage lights near the U of A - I thought they lended a nicer, more natural sepia-toned glow to things, and felt like I could see better because, as the article said, the brighter lights tend to night-blind you and make the shadows easier to lurk in.

As for the dog and rifle... Well, Wee of all people should know what a deadly sniper I can be, having been on the receiving end of paintball death from above (OK, so technically we were on the same team - anyone infiltrating from the enemy side gets treated like an enemy until they prove otherwise, pal!).

Ideally, I'd actually add a paintball gun to my list of armaments, with some luminescent paint in them - so I could shoot the perp with a paintball as warning, and if they still chose to stick around I'd be able to see where to shoot the real bullets. ;-)

light pollution. sigh. one side effect of my eyes being as dorked as they are: glare is a killer. Our handy lil apartment folks decided to mount lights at knee height. so, say i take out the trash. I open the door, go up the stairs, turn left, and am instantly blinded by the oh so helpful/point right at you lights that shine from about 2 feet off the ground. Fun....

There are times when I miss being in the midwest, and not just because of the seasons:) Even _I_ can see stars back in the middle of nowhere. Not so here though. I can see _maybe_ 1 or 2 on a semi clear night.

sigh...