Great article from Albert

Well done Al.

Carl.
An interesting stastic...
Security lights actually HELP criminals to SEE what thew are doingf in the
dead of night.
Whenit comes to houshold properties...
how many times have you heard an aloarm and just gone..
''ohh thats annoying!''
I wish it'd just shut off!

Did it make you call the cops!?...NO..
And as for a huge lamp that clicks on when a tomcat walks past...
oooh yeah..
thats woken me up sooooo many times...


security lighting is a joke.

If it clicked on then that would be an improvement in many cases. Most lights do not have a sensor and many that do are not installed correctly - ie they go off when a cat walks by and then illuminate the back of the garden!

Security lighting generally is not thought out - people seem to have this assumption that lighting deters crime. Lighting has a part to play but on its own it doesn't deter crime.

The 'visual task' is what needs to be considered. For the owner that means providing light so that any detected suspicious activity can be illuminated for identification. For the criminal it means having enough light to prepare and carry out a crime.

So you really want lighting that will activate when something out of the ordinary is detected. The light needs to be shining in the right place so that you, a camera, or a guard can see the activity. This will also draw attention of passers by and importantly alert the criminal. By having the lights on full time you are gaining no benefit but are providing a benefit to the criminal - they will have the light to plan and carry out the crime and there will be no change to cause an alert.

I've seen examples of some hilarious security lighting. The best was a motion activated light which was installed to illuminate an area for a CCTV camera. The problem was that when the light came on its glare rendered the camera useless!

Most of the security cameras on the market now (even the lidl ones I notice) use IR to illuminate the target. It may still cause light pollution but I'll take 10 IR led's aimed roughly in the right place over a 500W halogen pointing the wrong way!

The state of light pollution, especially in the Dublin region is getting worse year on year. Its depressing to see all the new lights going up on the M50 upgrade with no regard for smarter lighting - apparently Sodium rules .

Haven't seen what's happening there. The NRA do use FCO's (the only group in the country to commit to using only FCO's on new projects) but things may be different with the upgrade. I assume the NRA are managing the upgrade.

Drop a (polite!) letter to:

Vincent O'Malley,
Environmental Manager,
The National Roads Authority,
St. Martin's House,
Waterloo Road,
Dublin 4,
Ireland

If they are installing _new_ lights and not using FCO's then you may like to mention this www.ilpac.eu/content/view/33/25/

Albert White did the article for the magazine.It's a very good read all right. I gave 3 copes to my neighbors who have 5million watt bulbs in there back garden.don't get me wrong I don't mind people having security but point the damm things down and not lighting up the whole neighborhood.especially when it lights up my whole observatory.

For those in a similar position you might like to give them a copy of the Institute of Lighting Engineers Domestic Security Lighting Leaflet.
www.ile.org.uk/uploads/File/03_securitylighting.pdf

And you can give them a copy of the ILPAC brochure too! www.ilpac.eu/images//ilpac-brochure.pdf

Well since streetlights probably wont go off don't expect anything too spectacular. Earth Hour gives astronomers a great chance to show how big a problem light pollution is and to raise public awareness.

Any noticable change will be worth it. And it will give me a chance to mess with the minds of "courting" couples up there in the car park by letting off a police siren.

Coming from the rural west I often hear even non-astronomer Dubliners exclaim in amazement at star-studded rural skies.

Dubliners are truly deprived.

Very interesting link up there Albert. It's weird reading it because just the other day i was saying to someone that you dont see many sparrows around anymore.

I can even count on one hand the number of spiders i have had in my house this winter.