# Photos from space of Cities lit by LEDs

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photos-from-space-of-cities-lit-by-leds/750830>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [April 1, 2016, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photos-from-space-of-cities-lit-by-leds/750830 "2016-04-01T13:25:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photos-from-space-of-cities-lit-by-leds/750830/1 "2016-04-01T13:25:46Z")

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…and apparently it makes a difference in Light Pollution levels:

> **[Astronauts found something troubling in these shots from space](https://www.businessinsider.com/astonauts-photos-from-space-leds-light-pollution-2016-1)**
>
> Who would've thought?

After looking at the images, it’s not clear to me that LEDs add to light pollution in all cases, although they do make a difference in the quality of the light.

Astronomers could use a simple blocking filter to remove the yellow light from those sodium-vapor lamps that were widely used until recently. But LED light is broad-band (or, in some cases, multiple band), so you can’t do that.

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**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photos-from-space-of-cities-lit-by-leds/750830/2 "2016-04-01T13:43:55Z")

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The video stated that it was affecting the sleep cycles of those people who weren’t familiar with curtain technology.

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**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photos-from-space-of-cities-lit-by-leds/750830/3 "2016-04-01T13:51:14Z")

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> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#):
>
> The video stated that it was affecting the sleep cycles of those people who weren’t familiar with curtain technology.

Some people are just slow to adapt.

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**Author:** ![WildBlueYonder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WildBlueYonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildBlueYonder)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photos-from-space-of-cities-lit-by-leds/750830/4 "2016-04-01T14:52:41Z")

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so it makes light pollution worse, big deal

them city folk aint gonna see the stars anyway…they got to get out to where they be no peeps!

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**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photos-from-space-of-cities-lit-by-leds/750830/5 "2016-04-01T15:18:35Z")

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My street has LED bulbs in the streetlights and I prefer them to the old sodium-vapor lights; the LEDs are brighter and whiter.