Images from the weekend, when the Clean Air Act became effective

The first two images are from Brno, showing the ombudsman's office and the parking lot before it. The parking place, behind a fence, is strongly lit the whole night, as well as the rest of the building surroundings. In vain. They might be some winter evening moments, when some soft lighting might be suitable (even if there is quite a lot of light from the neighbouring street lamps). But it should be surely aimed just at the target surface, no plastic cover should protrude from the lamps at the bottom, reflecting and diffusing the light far and wide, even to the heavens. If some low-sensitive surveillance cameras need the light around the building, compact fluorescents switched by sensors are excellent for this purpose, the same sensors can trigger the cameras or make a time mark that this part of the record should be inspected. May 31 15:50, im003107.jpg

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From the Brno Observatory we have travelled together with a British journalist Claire Bradford to Pardubice (a major town in eastern Bohemia, capital of the region). But the first, well known lamps we met in Svitavy, the first Bohemian town on the road. These are Streetus lamps by Thorn, assembled directly in Svitavy. Doing an excellent job some seven years already. The first two images are from the street toward the railway station; some early photographs of them I have published long ago already. May 31 17:52, im003109.jpg

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Another two are from the main road northwards -- the poles are old, so each luminaire has another tilt (just some are really fully shielded due to that). May 31 17:59, im003111.jpg

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The following series of images (from Svitavy as well) would be identified by experts as taken by the railway. Just there such open-bottom lamps are used. Most of them are classical, rotationally symmetric ones, another one is simply without the usual bottom cover. May 31 18:00, im003113.jpg

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Even the following town, Litomyšl, has some fully shielded lamps. The time is to be blessed: the bottom acrylic covers, which the lamps possessed initially, became lost already. The lamps are shining to the ground better without them. The other lamps, being less old, have their bottom covers yet and shine both to the eyes and to the sky. May 31 18:23, im003118.jpg

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Images from Pardubice begin here -- on most of them, there are fully shielded lamps MC2 by Schréder (for more info, see e.g. www.vialattea.net/cielobuio/prod/schreder/schreder.htm). However, due to being simply attached to the old tilted arms, some are shining upwards even with their flat glass. Pardubice are perhaps the best Czech example as their running project of reconstruction of public outdoor lighting is concerned, this was the reason why we decided to go there. May 31 19:07, im003121.jpg

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The afternoon images from the beautiful Pernštejn square are meant mainly for a comparison with its nighttime appearance. Some show the grey transparent globes with bulbs inside, lots of years old. This is no good example of luminaires, but wait for the nigth images. The first image has a meaning of its own as well: the building with the gate is a former ``particular'' school, where the great Czech intellect Martin Bacháček began his teacher's path. May 31 19:49, im003126.jpg

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Behind the Virgin Maria church we found a beautiful, environmentally perfect alternative of those lamps, which are so popular for their daytime outlook: half-globe flowerpots. It's a pity that it was twilight already, at the sun they would be surely even more pleasant. May 31 20:06, im003134.jpg

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A detail of a gray lamp on the Příhrádek little square. It's well enough during the day, but a misery at night. Perhaps, with a CFL up to 20 W it would be tolerable. May 31 20:19, im003136.jpg

The nighttime images please mainly by the fact, that the Green Tower is not lit on purpose. But unlike in daylight, when it is dark against the sky, it's brighter than the sky now. There is too much light around... Its clock is a bit too much illuminated -- no problem for the eyes, but badly overexposed on the image. May 31 22:36, im003138.jpg

This image shows better then the preceding one, that the quadruples of lamps on some posts are much less glaring. We did not notice afternoon: these contain just incandescent bulbs of the same (if not less) wattage like the others with the high-intensity discharge tubes. The amount of light is much less, and in the richly illuminated environment they act really as a decoration, instead of straining your eyes like the HID sodium bulbs. The square could profit a lot if the strong lamps would shine just downwards. The views into the distance would not be dominated by the lamps themselves, but by the opened pubs or cafes and by the faintly outlined gables of the houses and the sky above them. It would be a marvellous evening environment. May 31 22:39, im003139.jpg

The last image from the square shows one of the greatest discords: using the lamps inside the pavement. Such an illumination never serves its purpose well. Does not a facade illuminated this way look rather morbid? God help the old people who happen to walk on such a path. They'll get such a luminous blow from below, that they see nothing at all for a while. Switching such lamps off forever is an evident safety demand. Even those, where nobody can walk close to them, should stop to operate, as lot of their light goes just to the heavens. May 31 22:45, im003140.jpg

After we passed the Green gate, tremendous glare from many strong bell-shaped opal lamps on the square of the Republic shocked us, demonstration of an effort to change the night into the day -- perhaps an unintentional effort, as the lamp are often chosen just by their daytime appearance (over the corner, the same bell-shaped covers are not opal any more, enabling to direct the light downward more efficiently). However, the image shows however just the perspective through the Peace boulevard back to the east toward the Green Gate. From all the horror of the square of the Republic, just one quadruple of lamps on one post is visible -- or rather an overexposed smudge caused by them. Overexposed in spite of the image being made with a flash and very underexposed consequently, with the exception of the lamps themselves. Even the lamps over the street are glaring, but not at all so horribly. There are more bad lamps, shining all around themselves in Pardubice, let's hope they won't be there for a long. When people will understand, what they want really from the lamps, they will decide to restore their environment to be nice and healthy even at night. Even now the old lamps are changed to new, fully shielded ones in an unprecedented pace, since 2001. May 31 22:58, im003141.jpg

An image exposed a longer time shows the Green Gate quite clearly, but even though the distant lamps are thousand times more conspicuous, instead of not being visible at all. We should see see a change within the next few years: just what should be really visible in this fine perspective would stand out. May 31 22:59, im003142.jpg

These are the views why we came to Pardubice. We look from the Masaryk square north through the Hradec avenue. Both rows of the nearby street lamps have flat glasses at the bottom and so they are becoming pleasantly faint in distance. Even the image gets a 3-D appearance this way. In reality, the drivers can navigate better (optical ?leading? is the name in the lighting jargon). Of course, there is no glare by the lamps which are angularly close to the observed scene. May 31 23:06, im003143.jpg

This picture is the same at the first glance. Which clever child will find three differences? Two of them concern the cars: there is a distant one at the first image, being closer at the second one. A car going away from us appeared at the second image. But the most interesting difference is that the traffic lights disappeared from the second image, at the mouth of the Suk street from the east. You don't know which ones are they? No wonder, they are just three orange lights between a lot of another orange lights. These three are to be seen really, the other ones should be so much less conspicuous, that they could not be mistaken for true signals. The Schréder lamps with flat glass are doing their best to achieve that (even if the ones at the right could be still less obtrusive if they would not be tilted up over the road). But left from the traffic lights, in a distance, there is a row of lamps much more shining into our eyes. These are the old ones, with the ``popular'' round bellys -- fortunately, they are going to be replaced by fully shielded lamps this year. May 31 23:06, im003144.jpg

The further views are from above, thanks to the graciousness of the Hotel Labe. The first one is southwards, with an elevated structure in the centre, obscuring the view -- the purpose was to photograph a vertical luminous edge in the sky (still of a partly unclear origin), but this has been visible just in reality, the automatic camera could not capture it. Right from the black structure there is the first example of the most horrible type of light in Czechia: a manifestation of a system of reflectors at a tower over the railway station. May 31 23:25, im003146.jpg

Further right and west there are two another towers. But a third strong, bluish light is there as well, its light dispersing even more apparently in the air. Another example of a fainter source, which makes a similar pollution locally, is on the supermarket at the bottom of the image. What they try to illuminate so strongly and why they shine with the same strength all around, I don't know. The image is like if confirming those opinions, that the public street lamps are not the worst source of the light pollution. Really even if the lamps just on the street below the hotel are rather wrong, the town panorama is spoiled much less by them. The same image shows two excellent lamps as well, or a manifestation of their presence, as they are not visible themselves, just the lit street below them and some stray light from the strongly lit air in a cone below them. For a check, they stand opposite each other at the crossing, where the Palacky avenue comes from the railway station behind. (They are visible on the images with at least 1024x748 pixels.) May 31 23:27, im003147.jpg

Further right, straight west, a strongly lit industrial area of Paramo is visible. But even the whole living house over the street ``K Polabinám'' is overlit, apparently by the luminaire at Tesco. Not a healthy place to sleep in. May 31 23:27, im003148.jpg

This is a view to the south-east, where the Palacký boulevard enters the north-south artery of Pardubice. The crossing seems to be lit extremely strongly -- it is really lit a lot, but the automatic camera took a longer exposure moreover, as it has not been blinded by the lamps and got an impression that there is less light than before. Pardubice can be proud of this view. Just the continuation of the Palacky street towards the Green Gate (the Peace boulevard) has some old lamps which are visible from above, the new lamps can be identified just by to the poles -- that's right! The image shows the excessive luminances of various advertising boards and signs -- they are hopelessly overexposed, even to the eyes they are not pleasant in the night landscape. May 31 23:29, im003149.jpg

The subsequent image further eastwards shows an excessive illumination of the part of the building at the opposite side of Hradecká street (an insurance company). May 31 23:29, im003150.jpg

Just before this building, it's evident that the tilt of the otherwise good new lamps is so large, that the lamps shine even over the high hotel. May 31 23:30, im003151.jpg

Still, they do less harm then the old lamps at Sukova street coming to Hradecká from the east, or the very old lamps around the Masaryk square before the hotel. All together, they are spoiling the night look from the square -- if it were not the badly aimed light, people could enjoy the stars over them from the square. May 31 23:30, im003152.jpg

And they are a way better than the old (a bit smashed in the image) lamps further north along Hradecká street -- those ones, which were visible left from the traffic signs on the first image made down on the street. May 31 23:30, im003153.jpg

A view back from the area before the hotel, toward Tesco: the left lamp is a bit shielded by the tree, even so it's just mad. Jun 1 00:00, im003154.jpg

Another view along Hradecká to the north, the orange signs are shining again, try to identify them. The camera took a longer exposure, the street does not look so bright in reality. Jun 1 00:03, im003155.jpg

The Sukova street around the castle park is lit by the proper lamps, showing again an impressive decrease of their brightnesses eastward, toward St. Bartholomeus. The nice view is spoiled by a quadruple of glaring lamps at the end of the Republic square (where the Sun never sets and people don't go to sleep...), behind which the top of the Green Tower is visible (as orange...). Jun 1 00:18, im003156.jpg

A view in the opposite direction (westwards) where all the lamps are old, glaring, polluting and even distorting the space perception. Next year, there will be the right lamps already. Jun 1 00:19, im003158.jpg

Looking through the Jan Palach avenue to the south. The image is made with a flash again, so the distant lamps are not overexposed. The flat-glass lamps are less conspicuous in the distance than the traffic lights, it should be everywhere so. Jun 1 00:27, im003159.jpg

A longer exposure is smashed, probably I made a place to the approaching car with my tripod. Thanks to the smashing, the different brightnesses of the distant lamps are well apparent. Their tilts along the street are not exactly the same and so they are not getting fainter monotonously with the distance. Those which are tilted a bit toward us, appear much brighter. Quality lamps are to be mounted with help of a bubble glass, preferably being a part of the luminaire itself. Otherwise they are so ``uncombed'' from a distance. Jun 1 00:27, im003160.jpg

A couple of views from the observatory terrace. The first one is south-eastwards. A good lamp on the crossing with Gorkij street is traceable just by the light dispersed in the air close below it. The other ones, further south along the street V Ráji (In Paradise) shine powerfully toward us already, they belong to the most obtrusive sources in our surroundings. But even the good lamp without a gibbous bottom cover does not belong here, at least not in this configuration. It has not to shine on the house across the street namely. This is not only wasting (the house is much brighter than the crossing at last), but also persecution of the people living there. Maybe, the light dispersed from the house disturbs the observation comparably to the direct light from the further lamps on the street (in reality the house does less harm probably, as the camera cannot show the lamps in their real strength). (Mr. Milan Ryšán, who is in charge of all public lighting in Pardubice, explained me afterwards, that the lamp is oriented toward the house just temporarily, in the course of the building works. Then it will shine to the opposite corner of the crossing...) Jun 1 00:36, im003161.jpg

A view to the right, southwards, to Gorkého street below the Observatory. The two aged lamps have some additional metal sheets around them, unfortunately not such that would block the light going to the terrace. Seems that even each sheet is short when cut as measured... The local utility ``Služby města Pardubic'' knows well the problem, this is the reason why the new lamp on the preceding image has a horizontal glass below (it is SGS203 by Phillips, see www.vialattea.net/cielobuio/prod/philips/philips.htm). Similar ones should replace the other old lamps on the street soon. It is possible to choose from a broad spectrum of products, whose overview is available at www.vialattea.net/cielobuio/prodotti.htm -- it is possible to buy, e.g., the luminaire Pollicino by Grechi, very cheaply, as it is assembled locally by Blahuta-Elektro for the Czech market. Jun 1 00:38, im003162.jpg

The northern view is worse beyond compare. Almost nothing could be visible in the sky even if cloudless, as the midnight direction is governed by the two lighting towers over the railway station. They are so glaring that even their reflections on a dark sheet metal is conspicuous. Also the lamp lower right is horrible, as well as the sign ``Agrozet'' on the building at left. Due to these towers the citizens of Pardubice could not admire the comet Ikeya-Zhang this spring, in spite that even in Brno, on our observatory near the city centre, the comet was remarkable and really nice in small telescopes already. Jun 1 00:40, im003163.jpg

Two attempts to picture the respectable telescope of the Pardubice Observatory -- the largest telescope available to public in Czechia, with a mirror of 42 cm across. If the Pardubice sky would not be spoiled by the remaining bad lamps, I'd recommend to everybody on moonless nights: go to Pardubice, they'll show you the various distant objects in the universe better than elsewhere. Jun 1 00:58, im003164.jpg

Having bought such a large telescope, Pardubice continue the honourable way started in 1912, when the first Czech public observatory (i.e., aimed to showing the Universe to the visitors) has been established by baron Artur Kraus in the centre of the town. The nowadays Observatory of baron Artur Kraus will sure match the old one -- when the lamps of Pardubice will cease to shine horizontally and upwards. I wish such a success to Václav Knoll and Renata Křivková, who kindly accompanied us through Pardubice. And to the citizens of the town and the whole Pardubice region. Jun 1 00:58, im003165.jpg

The last views (from the road to Dašice) looking back, westwards to Pardubice. The first image is made with a flash, the lamps are not very overexposed. Jun 1 01:27, im003166.jpg

The other image has a standard exposure. Car headlights appeared there, but the brightest object in the distance is still the glaring railway station tower. Jun 1 01:27, im003167.jpg

It's pleasing that lamps with a flat glass are also at the neighbour train stop, it's a pity however that they are tilted up over the rails. The same row of road lights is visible at right as on the previous images. Travelling back to Brno we found a very nice fact, that most of the communities east from Pardubice have their lighting switched-off at such a late night. It is a wise practice, which should be common everywhere, unfortunately it is not yet. There is no better possibility of controlling the lighting. Jun 1 01:28, im003168.jpg

Still later we went again through Svitavy. The images look south, towards Brno road, all of them show the same scene. The series contains a car passing around us. The first image shows no car, just its rear lights and one reflection from its roof. Jun 1 02:46, im003169.jpg

The car is very distant on the second image Jun 1 02:46, im003170.jpg

The third image shows an empty street. The distant lamps produce no glare, but their varying tilts along the road, even if not large at all, cause their varying brightnesses, what is rather confusing. Jun 1 02:46, im003171.jpg

The last image for the sake of comparison with the afternoon ones from Litomyšl (I forgot to make a night one there). These are the same very old lamps with no bottom covers, just in Šumice, a large village before Uherský Brod we passed when returning from Hostětín to Brno with my wife the next day. Due to having no horizontal glass below, the brightness of the lamps does not diminish sufficiently quickly with the distance. But the glare is low and the lamps shine downwards without any interference, much better than they would with any bottom cover. (Just the cavity above the bulb is rather dark and does not direct the light excellently, what prevents these old lamps to be considered as perfect.) Jun 2 21:14, im003217.jpg