"The ideal of a dark and quiet sky is one many astronomers fight to protect. ... Preservation of the night sky across the electromagnetic spectrum is an extension of the stewardship of a human environment that now goes beyond our planet and reaches toward the cosmic ocean. It is also key to the future of astronomical discoveries."
https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/online/44173/Threats-to-the-dark-and-quiet-sky
I'm pleased to have a byline in Physics Today on this 'Quick Study' about #DarkAndQuietSkies. Thanks to my editor, Jennifer Sieben, and Jeff Warner for us of his amazing image that accompanies the story.
https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/online/44173/Threats-to-the-dark-and-quiet-sky
Just submitted an abstract to the Artificial Light at Night conference #ALAN2025 
In case you haven't written one yet - there's still time, the deadline is tomorrow! https://artificiallightatnight.org/alan-conference-2025/submit-an-abstract-for-alan-2025/
@european the city of #Tübingen implemented and continues to do so motion-sensor based streetlights. They dim up to full brightness ahead of the moving person, so it's never fully dark and the light doesn't simply turn on/off.
There are more details in this blog article by @stadtwerketuebingen:
https://www.swtue.de/netze/strassenbeleuchtung/licht-nach-bedarf.html
Threats to astronomical observatory sites around the world from light pollution are growing, but the existing skyglow standard for site protection dates to nearly a half-century ago. Astronomers are considering a new standard to replace it given advances in lighting technology.
Read more about what's at stake for astronomy and how this effort developed: http://www.darkskyconsulting.com/blog/toward-a-new-standard-for-astronomical-observatory-site-protection
Better yet: don’t light your garden at all. “Since artificial light in gardens disrupts natural behaviour for a range of wildlife, it’s important to retain some dark areas and also question whether you really need lighting, says the RHS.”
New paper shows that moth numbers are reduced in areas with higher levels of #skyglow compared to areas with lower levels of skyglow, regardless of whether one is near streetlights or not: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2025.126068
The International Astronomical Union notes the need to update the 1980 joint CIE-IAU light pollution metric for astronomical observatory sites and "is currently considering drafting a resolution based on these recommendations to be submitted for approval at its next general assembly in 2027."
Energy Facility Could Spoil Observatory’s View of the Night Sky https://petapixel.com/2025/03/20/energy-facility-inna-could-spoil-paranal-observatorys-view-night-sky-very-large-telescope/ #europeansouthernobservatory #extremelylargetelescope #verylargetelescope #astrophotography #lightpollution #atacamadesert #deepspace #universe #Space #chile #News #eso
It's worse than previously thought. "INNA would increase light pollution above the Very Large Telescope (VLT) by at least 35% and by more than 50% above the south site of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory."
"Nick Dunn, a professor of urban design in the United Kingdom, has talked about the idea of 'nocturnal commons' as a way to envision our shared responsibility to maintain night skies as a public good. Whether DarkSky certification will be an effective way of resisting the privatisation of the celestial realm is debatable, given the gulf in power between corporate and community interests.”
full document pdf (148 pp) available at
https://www.cms.int/en/publication/international-light-pollution-guidelines-migratory-species
ICYMI
International light pollution guidelines for migratory species prepared (published 2024) 
Transcriptomics predicts artificial light at night's (ALAN) negative fitness effects and altered gene expression patterns in the midge Chironomus riparius (Diptera:Chironomidae): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749125002003 -> The Dark Side of Light - Night-time Illumination Threatens Insects: https://www.senckenberg.de/en/pressemeldungen/the-dark-side-of-light-night-time-illumination-threatens-insects/ - artificial light leads to a significant decline in the reproductive capacity of chironomids. #LightPollution
Check out the flash from this #evscope #satellite observation. (Left is a still, right is a video - mouse over to see)
New conference paper by @salvabara argues that "setting total emission limits becomes necessary in order to ensure that the negative effects of light pollution do not surpass red-lines of unacceptable degradation of the natural night."
"This work didn’t identify exact causes for the declines, although scientists have been clear that habitat loss, pesticide use and the climate crisis are the main culprits for insect losses, with other problems such as light pollution affecting #fireflies and #moths in particular."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/06/declining-butterfly-populations
Last night, Sicco Bauer and I made simultaneous observations of the GOES 12 satellite through an #eVscope. Sicco was in Dresden, I was in Bochum (~450 km apart).
We both see a dramatic brightening of the satellite as it passes through the (different) field of view.
It's maybe not surprising, because the satellite is so far away that the angular difference is <1 degree. But still, it's cool that this can be done, and shows the utility of the setup.
Finally, in "Insect communities under skyglow: diffuse nighttime illuminance induces spatio-temporal shifts in movement and predation", Dyer et al. show that the movement of insects shifts from day to night when #LightPollution is present, and again it seems that the effect begins at skyglow-like light levels. (16/17)
