Brutkey

Prof. Sam Lawler
@sundogplanets@mastodon.social

I'm listening to this episode for the first time and it starts of Very British, and it's reminding me how incredibly spoiled I am with dark sky access here on the prairies. They go visit a "dark sky" site which looks to be within easy driving distance of London (so...not very dark) and it's just...so sad to listen to them describing how the clouds are only sort of lit up...

Prof. Sam Lawler
@sundogplanets@mastodon.social

Their satellite numbers are a few months out of date, but ok, they get the point across that there are lots, and do a good job setting the stage for why satellites are so bad for astronomy.

Great explanation of how light pollution from satellites works, and why it's so bad for astronomy.

Ok here's me. Haha wow I sound more like a valley girl than usual (maybe it's the contrast with all the smooth British accents). Izzy was a great interviewer, so I'm pretty happy about how this came out!

Prof. Sam Lawler
@sundogplanets@mastodon.social

I really like how my interview ended! To reiterate: Special thank you to everyone who shares the night sky with the general public by volunteering your time and equipment!

And the episode wraps up with a nice discussion of ground-based urban light pollution, and why it's gotten so bad lately (it's because of LEDs - they are brighter, bluer, and cheaper, so they are hideously overused). But this is easy to fix: just turn it off.

Hope you enjoyed my breakfast live-toot-listening session haha

Prof. Sam Lawler
@sundogplanets@mastodon.social

Related: I just started reading The Inner Clock by Lynne Peeples, all about how our bodies really do need exposure to light at the same time every day, and also need darkness, in order to keep pretty much everything functioning inside us. I'm only a chapter and a half in, but I already think it's really going to change how I use artificial light in my own house...

https://lynnepeeples.com/the-inner-clock/