Dr. Jeffrey Hall, Director of Lowell Observatory, was Keep Sedona Beautiful’s Preserving the Wonder speaker in May.
Dr. Hall discussed the main properties of a good, dark-sky preserving light, what types of dark-sky-friendly LEDs are available, and presented some guidelines that communities can use when an LED conversion is being considered.
Outdoor lighting is presently in the midst of enormous change worldwide, but as Dr. Hall discussed, most of the LEDs commonly implemented have a very blue-rich spectrum which is ruinous to dark skies. With the widespread adoption of such fixtures, we will see dramatic growth in sky glow worldwide – at a time when much of the world’s population already can no longer see the Milky Way.
“LEDs don’t have to be a bad thing, and by adopting them thoughtfully, we can employ them for outdoor lighting while preserving the beautiful starry skies that enrich all our lives.”