Dark Sky

By Eric Bretschneider, Ph.D Excerpts from a larger technical report, linked below. Executive Summary This report details a photobiological hazard assessment of the general concept of Orbital Solar Reflectors (OSRs). A recent proposal, Reflect Orbital’s proposed Earendil-1 satellite is used as an exemplar. The analysis was conducted following IEC 62471:2006 Photobiological Safety of Lamps and [...]

  By Brian Liebel & Rick Utting, DarkSky International, Tucson, AZ. Executive Summary Upward-emitted outdoor light has long been identified as a source of atmospheric light pollution, a.k.a. sky glow. This form of light pollution is an obvious contributor to the brightening of the nighttime sky and can be observed as glowing domes of light [...]

  SB 3037, the Dark Sky Act, is currently working its way through the Illinois legislature. The bill sets out to add dark sky requirements within the Illinois Stretch Energy Code. It would update the Illinois Stretch Energy Code requirements so that the Code contains separate residential and commercial components. It specifically proposes: (A) outdoor [...]

  Nichia reports that a joint study with the Tokushima Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Technology Support Center found Nichia’s HPS color LED at 1800K (amber) had the lowest insect attraction among the tested light sources. The company says the result came from both laboratory and outdoor evaluations comparing LEDs with different correlated color temperatures (CCTs). [...]

  LightNOW has already written about Maine’s new strict dark sky law, and Hawaii’s proposed dark sky bill. Here is a look at New York State’s proposed dark sky law. New York State’s proposed Dark Skies Protection Act (Assembly Bill A4615 / Senate Bill S5007) is part of a broader effort to reduce light pollution, [...]

  A recent dark sky project has had me thinking and researching light pollution, sky glow, and by extension an optical phenomenon that we can experience on most clear days or nights. Rayleigh scattering is an interaction of light with Earth’s atmosphere. It’s most notable characteristic is it scatters lower wavelength light colors (violet and [...]

  I’ve previous written two articles (1) & (2) about a startup that is seeking to reflect sunlight onto Earth with a constellation of giant space mirrors. That startup, Reflect Orbital, based in California, plans to deploy up to 50,000 orbiting mirrors by 2035 to provide $5,000/hour “sunlight on demand” for solar farms (also to [...]

  Maine’s LD 1934, titled “An Act to Promote Responsible Outdoor Lighting,” enacted in January 2026, establishes strict, comprehensive regulations to reduce light pollution from new or replaced public outdoor lighting, both residential and commercial. The law mandates specific lighting standards, including a 0.1 lux limit on light trespass into wilderness areas and a required [...]

  Photometrics AI has integrated real-time bird migration data from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s BirdCast platform into its street-lighting optimization system to automatically dim lights during peak migration events and reduce fatal bird collisions with buildings. The collaboration aims to turn what has often been episodic “lights out” campaigns into an ongoing, automated operational [...]