Astronomers aren't afraid of the dark

A group of curious families wandered by and watched as members of the Southwest Florida Astronomical Society set up equipment in a Cape Coral park for a public stargazing party.

Before there was GPS, there were the stars; before there were streetlights, there was the moon. Urbanized humans seem to be losing touch with these celestial bodies and perhaps with true night as well.

"Nothing to see in the 'scope yet, guys," said Brian Risley, president of the club, to the children eagerly eyeing the telescopes. He is accustomed to working with children because the club does a good deal of science education with the schools. "We've got clouds right now — a little bit later, as soon as the clouds go away."

The blustering wind raised a chop on the Caloosahatchee as it blew clouds across the sky at an amazing speed. Astronomers fight the clouds to pursue their passion.

"We're stuck with the weather," Risley said. "There's not much we can do about it."

Chuck Pavlick, an astronomical photographer with the group, said, "It's supposed to get clearer."

"I know," Risley said. "That's what I'm hoping for."

The sun set, yet the park wasn't enfolded in the gloaming because electric lights flickered on in response to the settling in of night. The light from the cities on both sides of the river set the sky aglow.

A woman walking past stopped, inquiring about the equipment and the event. She asked Risley if the group had set up in the park last month to watch the meteor showers. He explained it was necessary to set up at a dark sky site, such as Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park, for viewing that type of astronomical event.

Here was the astronomers' other nemesis — light pollution — one that something potentially could be done about with public education and mindfulness. They don't begrudge necessary and appropriate outdoor lighting that is turned off when not in use, but they do have difficulties with excessive, inappropriate, perpetual lighting.

The society occasionally meets at Seahawk Park in the northern Cape; it used to be dark country there before the real estate boom brought houses, along with perpetually switched-on outdoor lights, to the area.

"It's not dark around here anywhere anymore," Pavlick said.

"Not anymore — it used to be," said Risley, a Fort Myers native who remembers when Bell Tower Shops was woodlands and Daniels Parkway was an unpaved road that passed cow pastures and a NASA Bendix satellite-tracking observatory. He became involved in astronomy during middle school and by high school had "basically ended up running" the observatory at then-Edison Junior College. He was a founding organizer of the nonprofit Southwest Florida Astronomical Society.

"They think they need to make it as bright as day outside," Risley continued. "The problem is, even with streets, you go walking along and if parts of the area are lit up, your eyes (irises) are going to close down because of the brightness and you can't see fainter stuff. If it's not all lit up, your eyes are open, and you can see a lot better."

It is possible, therefore, that rather than making the public safer at night, excessive outdoor lighting may make the nighttime less safe. Australian astronomer Barry Clark, Ph.D. cited information in his scholarly paper indicating that crime may actually be increased by the presence of outdoor lighting. Additionally, Clark cited studies that indicate excessive nighttime lighting has a detrimental effect upon the human endocrine system, potentially contributing to illnesses such as obesity and breast cancer.

The School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University has a brochure on its website that explains to business owners that improperly chosen and installed lighting actually provides criminals helpful illumination for going about their dastardly deeds. At one of its monthly meetings, the astronomical society had a presentation from a dark sky advocacy group about improper outdoor lighting.

"Everybody's got them facing all over the place," Pavlick said. "They're facing down, and the glare is what hurts you. The dark sky network showed examples on how lights shine, and there's a person standing right there and you can't even see him because the lights are shining at you. So then they show another view of it with the correct lighting and you can see the guy standing there right by the building. But people have their lights pointed all over. Except for major intersections, I can see having traffic lights and at the bus stops, because it's hard seeing where to make a left turn — seeing where the road actually is — but otherwise you don't really need them."

Risley said, "A lot of people feel safe if they can see a light, but a lot of the lighting is a waste of energy and a waste of money. If it's lighting up more than the immediate area, it's too much. If you can see the bulb from half a mile away — why?"

Pavlick concluded, "People, turn off your lights, please. You don't need your 'insecurity' lights — I call them insecurity lights."

Risley and Pavlick had set up the classic Newtonian-style telescope, but they waited and watched the clouds before setting up the modern-style telescopes with computerized controls, just in case it rained.

They kept their cars nearby so they could dash the electronics into shelter if need be, even though the clouds were opening enough to see the moon. Astronomy seems to be a hobby requiring patience along with the ability for observation; although the stars are there, with the weather complications, they seem as elusive as birds.

The children came running up, and Pavlick lowered the eyepiece so that they could look through one of the telescopes as their parents stood beside them.

"Whoa, that's so cool!" one child exclaimed while looking at the moon through the telescope. "You can see the bumps on it!"

One of the parents, Joseph Solis from Lehigh Acres, said, "It's really nice that you can see so close. I'm sure they can really teach you a lot of stuff about the moon and the stars."

The astronomical society holds numerous public events in city and county parks, school educational events and dark sky site stargazing parties in an effort to pass along their knowledge as well as the wonder they felt as children looking up at the night sky. A telescope is not necessary to participate because the club has extra equipment to share at all events. They suggest attending events to try out different pieces of club equipment to become familiar with the range of telescopes on the market before purchasing one.

Connect with this writer: @LauraTichySmith (Twitter)

Southwest Florida Astronomical Society

• Contact: theeyepiece.org

Brian Risley, president: swfasbrisley@embarqmail.com

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