I was chatting with a friend the other day, and I said, you know, how much of the energy in those lightbulbs gets wasted and sent off into space ?

What happens if panels are placed on top of all street lights, external lighting out there, could we not focus more of the light on the surface itself ?
Is it the reflection of the light that is causing the majority of light in the atmosphere, or is that direct light ?

It would be cool if we could see the stars in the city again. So I just thought I'd enquire about its viability.


D

What do ya mean by placing panels on top of street lights?

Oh, it would be so hellakool if I could see the stars in the city . . . truly beautiful!

Most places in the US do have the top of the streetlights covered. If doesn't help.

In order for you to see an object, light has to bounce off it. This light is going to go bounce around in the atmosphere... not way around it. (Except possibly changing the wavelengths, but that's another discussion.)

Most places in the US do have the top of the streetlights covered. If doesn't help.

In order for you to see an object, light has to bounce off it. This light is going to go bounce around in the atmosphere... not way around it. (Except possibly changing the wavelengths, but that's another discussion.)

ooh bugger the "report" button is so close the "reply" button I almost needed to be more careful on here heehee..

When you say most US streetlights have the top covered, then is it not possible to view those streetlamps from an airplane ? Cos think about it so much of that light is being scattered into the sky.. Hmm maybe it could be a more specific shape or some such to reduce it ?

No... when you fly over a US city the strretlamp light you see is all reflected (at least in NE US). You can't stop if from reflecting off the ground.
ooh bugger the "report" button is so close the "reply" buttonLol, I've done that a few times.

I guess this should really be in the "earth sciences" section, sorry 'bout that...

Do you see more stars in the city in NE US than other parts Persol ?

No... but part of it may have to do with the weather. In the city the sky is generally orange, but I have a suspicion that the effect would be diminished if the air was drier.

I used to go to Eindhoven in the Netherlands a lot, and Phillips (the electrical giant) actually have a street light lab. they have row upon row of different types and styles and when you go past it you notice all of the different levels of light pollution from the various lights. I know they do have lights that have virtually no light scattering effect, but of course its expensive so local authoritys don't buy them. I live in London and light pollution is really bad here :cool:

Aah, I used to live in the middle of nowhere, no streetlamps or anything... of course, now I live in Edinburgh, where you can't tell if light pollution has an effect because its overcast the whole time.

Erm, do you mean edinburgh, Scotland?

If so, it isnt overcast the whole time, in fact we've had 2 or 3 days with almost no overcast at all just now. It wasnt very overcast during the summer, and now its winter there is more cloud, so it looks like its overcast all the time.