[Darksky]Natural Sky Hour (fwd)

[Jan Hollan <jhollan@amper....muni.cz>]

To: david <ursaminor@clara......>


> I have written to the
> government asking if one day they could have an "astronomy hour" when
> all the street lights are switched off at night for an hour so people
> can see the Milky Way etc! Has this ever been done in your country?

Dave,

 thank you for the support. We are still far from achieving any real
change in Czechia, just the notion that light at night is a polluting
substance is becoming to be known a bit, slowly.

I know of no examples of switching off lights to get a less polluted sky.
Just my friends made such a happening once for me, when we've arrived with
my wife into a small village of Hostetin (we work there quite often on
various projects regarding sustainable countryside, but lighting is not
yet included). It was wonderful and convincing, but lasted just a couple
of minutes.

Non-Substantial fraction of communities in Czechia (ten per cent?),
villages and even small towns, switch off public lighting sometimes
between 22:30 and midnight, at least before working days. It surely helps
people who want to see the starry heavens, but has a rather limited use
for children...

cheers, jenik