Iceland chooses darkness

www.aftenposten.no/english/world/article1474652.ece

Iceland chooses darkness
The lights are going out in Iceland this week so people can gaze at the
night sky.

Authorities in the capital Reykjavik will turn off street lights on
Thursday evening and people are also being encouraged to sit in their
houses in the dark, writer Andri Snaer Magnason said on Wednesday. While
the lights are out, an astronomer will describe the night sky over
national radio.

The event is part of a film festival taking place on the small north
Atlantic island, which gets most of its electricity from abundant thermal
energy. The lights are due to go off at 10 p.m. (2200 GMT), about two
hours after nightfall, for half an hour.

Magnason said the capital's population of around 250,000 might be able to
see the Northern Lights, a flickering curtain of light often seen in
northern climes which is caused by solar particles being caught in the
Earth's magnetic field. Two other Icelandic towns will also turn off their
lights.

Blindly posted to:
CFDS@yahoogroups.com,
OutdoorLighting-Forum@yahoogroups.com,
DarkSky-list@yahoogroups.com

Didnt the university there close its observatory due to permanent cloud cover, they actually get more cloud cover then we do.

You know, if I had my own jet, I'd make the trip over just to see what this would be like. I would love to see somehthing similar done over here...

This is an exceptionally cool idea!

I don't think I've ever seen a more extreme example of an Astronomy out-reach program!

Bart.

Hi first post here. Long-time sky-watcher though.

Its an outstanding idea. Hopefully it might catch on in Ireland (we live in hope).

Hi first post here. Long-time sky-watcher though.

Its an outstanding idea. Hopefully it might catch on in Ireland (we live in hope).

Unlikley on that scale but the idea is being scoped out.

Cheers,
~Al