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posted by janrinok on Monday October 03 2016, @02:42PM   Printer-friendly
from the free-entertainment dept.

https://www.cnet.com/news/reykjavik-turns-off-street-lamps-so-citizens-can-view-the-northern-lights/

The northern lights have been blazing their beauty across Icelandic skies all last week, but it's a lot easier to watch nature's light show if the city lights themselves aren't so darn bright. So, on Wednesday night the Reykjavik city council turned off the lights in parts of the city so residents could ooh and aah at a clearer display.

The city street lights in most neighborhoods were scheduled to go dark between 10 and 11 p.m., though that time was reportedly extended when the northern lights were a little late to the party. Locals were asked to help by keeping the lights off in their homes. They were asked to drive carefully on the darker -than-normal streets, and the fire, police and power company were warned in advance, according to Iceland Monitor.


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  • (Score: 2) by EvilSS on Monday October 03 2016, @09:21PM

    by EvilSS (1456) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 03 2016, @09:21PM (#409664)

    I was amazed how many stars I could see when I was younger and moved from a big suburb in Florida to rural Wisconsin. On a clear, cold night it was stunning. I live outside a big city now and looking up at night is just... sad.

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  • (Score: 2) by darnkitten on Tuesday October 04 2016, @02:38AM

    by darnkitten (1912) on Tuesday October 04 2016, @02:38AM (#409786)

    Not just the big cities. Our rural town just did an improvement project where vintage-appearing street lamps (with glass on top to allow upward spill) were installed in addition to replacing the old downward-directed street lights with more efficient versions.

    Main Street looks good, but the lights are so bright, they overpower half the night sky if you are looking in its direction, meaning you can only see the eastern sky in the eastern half of town, and the western half if you are standing west of Main.

    That the aurora is hidden by the mountains as well is a separate issuek, as is the fact that EVERY astronomy class we've held this year has attracted cloud cover :(