Friends of the
Zeiss Public
Statement For
Telephone: 412-561-7876 By Glenn A.
Walsh:
Electronic Mail: < friendsofthezeiss@planetarium.cc > New Casino Lighting &
Internet Web Site: < http://www.planetarium.cc >
2007 May 1
Good
afternoon, I am Glenn A. Walsh of
Last
month, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that Carnegie Science
Center Director Joanna Haas testified to you that lighting from the new casino could
eliminate
their
ability to use the
Astronomical
observing within the City of
Telescope,
with a new lens that partially screens-out light-pollution.
Light-pollution
denies people in the city and environs the ability to see a major part of
nature: the dimmer stars and other celestial objects in the night sky. As the
classic
constellation
star pictures we inherited from our ancestors are composed of both bright stars
and dim stars, it is becoming increasingly difficult for people in cities
and
metropolitan areas to see the dimmer stars, and hence, make-out the
constellations, which our ancestors had no problems seeing. This is robbing
newer generations
the
ability to see this part of nature, which is just as important as the loss of
wetlands and other wild ecosystems.
The
by the naked-eye. And, this impact on naked-eye observing would be at its worst at the current
to carefully use lighting for the new casino that
does not scatter extraneous light into the sky. However, I do believe that the
exaggerating
when they claim that the telescopes at their astronomical observatory would
become unusable following construction of the new casino.
When
the general public viewed objects with a telescope at the original Buhl Planetarium, during our Friday evening public observing
sessions in the 1980s and
early
1990s, they were primarily interested in seeing bright objects such as the
Moon, planets, and bright stars. Even being in the middle of the city, with
Three Rivers
Stadium
only a few blocks away, there was never a light-pollution problem showing the
public the Moon, planets, and the brighter stars with Buhl Planetarium
telescopes.
Since
the Observatory at the original Buhl
Planetarium was only open to the public one evening each week, we also had an
active daytime public observing
program.
Weather-permitting,
we would use a large projection screen to show visitors dark areas on the
surface of the Sun called sunspots. And, if the sky was clear enough
in
the daytime, we could also allow the public to look through the telescope to
see the Moon, the planets Mercury, Venus—with phase, Mars, and
Jupiter—with
cloud belts, and some of the brightest stars—to “third magnitude” in
brightness. Yes, with a clear sky and a good telescope, you can see planets
and
stars in the daytime—and at the original Buhl Planetarium Observatory we
did this routinely !!!
Light-pollution
is a major problem today, which inhibits naked-eye
views of an important part of nature, in cities and metropolitan areas. And,
lighting from a
new
casino could greatly impact naked-eye
observing from the
could
eliminate use of the telescopes at
their astronomical observatory is an exaggeration.
Thank you.
gaw
NEWS: Planetarium, Astronomy, Space,
Science: