Hello all,
Even though COVID-19 has slowed a lot of events and organizations to a crawl, IDA PGH, IDA PA, and the main IDA are still working to reduce light pollution. So, lets get into the news!
Meetings
Our last meeting had a larger turnout than normal! It was outstanding. We discussed many things, which I will list below. However, we would love to see more of you at the next one, which will be on Wednesday, March
Zoom invites will be sent out closer to the meeting via the newsletter group, so if you are reading this on the website please do sign up at the bottom of any page on the website. On to the news!
IDA Pittsburgh News
Streetlight Project
The streetlight project is ongoing. In a few months there will be meetings to propose the model of streetlights. We are recommending they are 2700k, shielded, and dimmable. Many new streetlights come with many bells and whistles, and while the model proposed will have the option to add bells and whistles, we are only recommending the ability to remotely control them for emergency/event purposes. These lights will be fully shielded and dimmable. Once those meetings finish, it’s estimated in around 6 months the city will be working on picking the installation crews.
As we get closer to the city installing these lights, we will be talking to the general public via town halls and likely some news coverage.
When the project begins and as it is ongoing, we’d also like to ask those willing to take sky quality meter readings or use visual observations to note the changes.
City-Owned Buildings
There are meetings coming up to convert parks and facilities to dark sky friendly lighting. This is for city owned properties, and it’s in the very early stages of discussion. No installation plans have been made yet, so as the project continues we will let you all know!
Presentation at the Frick Museum
They enjoyed our talk! Quite a few comments from the audience and hosts about the impacts of light pollution. There is a plan to have a star party later this year once things open back up!
Star Parties
At this time, there are star parties planned at Wagman Observatory, and a few others around the area, however, they are ALL tentative. Keep in mind that the status of the virus, vaccinations, and state-level allowances for gatherings may or may not cancel these events. We are still collecting the dates to add to the calendar.
That said, we have reached out to the coordinator of the Cherry Springs Star Party to try to get IDA Pennsylvania in attendance as a vendor. The dates for the Cherry Springs Star Party are June 10th -13th this year. If you would like to volunteer to go, please email dburt@idapgh.org. Keep in mind they will only provide 4 tickets for volunteers, so if you were planning on going anyways and have already bought a ticket, just let Daylon know if you will be there anyways!
International Dark Sky Week
International Dark Sky Week is the first full week of April this year, April 5th through April 12th. It will be entirely virtual again, with many presentations from all over the world at varying times. There are many topics discussed each year, and we’re planning on participating!
Daylon is planning on putting together a live stream that discusses how light pollution has changed the landscape for astrophotography. Daylon will host as the “relative newcomer” to the hobby, given he’s only been taking photos for a few years. But, he is looking for a few guests: someone that’s been an astrophotographer for about a decade, and someone who has a few decades under their belt imaging the stars. It will mostly be a round table discussion about the changes, but a few questions to help guide topics will be asked. We are aiming for thirty minutes to an hour for this discussion. With that said, volunteers are needed!
The live stream will be hosted on Daylon’s newly established Astrophotography YouTube channel (found here, please visit and show some support!) and also streamed on the IDA PGH Facebook group. The main IDA will also stream it to the events page on the Dark Sky Week website and their Facebook group. So, volunteers will need to be comfortable with being shown to a worldwide audience. If you are interested, please email Daylon with the email mentioned above in the Cherry Springs Section!
That is all for the news this month, stay healthy under clear, dark skies everyone!