# picture of the worlds lights **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 13, 2000, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306 "2000-12-13T04:23:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306/21 "2000-12-14T19:52:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Coldfire \* > \*\* . . . there’s a huge greenhouse industry there that uses night lighting to make the plants etc. grow faster. \*\* In the Netherlands? You don’t say . . . wonder what’s in them greenhouses? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306/22 "2000-12-14T19:59:37Z")
While I do love this picture, and it’s undeniably beautiful and compelling, there’s a flipside to it as well. Much of that light, which is supposed to be illuminating the ground so we can drive and walk and see, is instead (obviously) illuminating the sky, wreaking havoc for professional and amateur ground-based astronomy. The [International Dark Sky Association](http://www.darksky.org/) website has a lot of information on this topic. They also have some similar pictures at their [satellite imagery](http://www.darksky.org/ida/ida_2/sat.html) page. Check out the difference between [Los Angeles in 1908](http://www.darksky.org/ida/graphics/ida_asp_03.gif) and [the same view in 1988](http://www.darksky.org/ida/graphics/ida_asp_04.gif). ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Dirx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b77776/32.png) [@Sir\_Dirx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Dirx)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306/23 "2000-12-14T20:06:03Z")
Am I the only person who is _horribly saddened_ by this picture??? Sheesh, I’ll bet none of you care a flaming marmot’s arse about astronomy! That’s _light pollution_ people! Those lights hinder our ability to actually see the night sky! It’s getting harder and harder to find good places to set up telescopes because of all that! To me, “Oohing” and “ahhing” at that picture is comparable to admiring the glow of a nuclear blast. That picture makes me sick. ---
**Author:** ![monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monster)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306/24 "2000-12-14T20:06:07Z")
WOW!! That picture is so beautiful it makes me tear up. Dorky I know, but I’m the one who also cries at Folgers commercials and Designing Women. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Dirx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b77776/32.png) [@Sir\_Dirx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Dirx)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306/25 "2000-12-14T20:12:12Z")
Ok, at least I’m not alone. I missed **pldennison** ’s post as I typed my rant. And the reason I’m jsut a tad edgy is because of finals here at school _yipee…_ ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2000, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306/26 "2000-12-15T17:03:01Z")
Oh, be quiet, you. It’s purdy. 😃 (Just kidding…) ---
**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2000, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306/27 "2000-12-15T18:29:04Z")
I love this picture. akatsukami posted it to his [LiveJournal](http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?itemid=913990) a few weeks ago. psycat and I looked at it for hours. You can read some of our reflections on it at that link. Light pollution my eye. Go climb a mountain! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-the-worlds-lights/45306.md?page=1)