JUST IN: Namibian skies least polluted
The sky over Tivoli Astro Farm in Namibia is the least contaminated by artificial light, a recent survey of almost 50 observatories worldwide has found.
An expert team, including scientists from Italy, Chile and Spain, compared light pollution at facilities ranging from some of the largest professional observatories in the world to smaller amateur-focused facilities.
In a paper published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, the scientists concluded that artificial light pollution from Earth is contaminating the skies over most major astronomical observatories, requiring immediate action to remedy.
The least contaminated of all the sites featured in the study was a lodge in Namibia that houses several telescopes rented to amateur astronomers, according to Dr Fabio Falchi. Falci, a physicist specialising in light pollution at the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela in Spain, was the lead researcher of the survey.
“The least contaminated of all the sites in the study is a lodge in Namibia that hosts several telescopes that are rented to amateurs for visual, photography and research uses. I was recently there and I can confirm that it is the least light polluted site I’ve ever seen.”
He added: “We must try to decrease the light pollution levels at other sites in order to protect the future of ground-based astronomy”.
An expert team, including scientists from Italy, Chile and Spain, compared light pollution at facilities ranging from some of the largest professional observatories in the world to smaller amateur-focused facilities.
In a paper published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, the scientists concluded that artificial light pollution from Earth is contaminating the skies over most major astronomical observatories, requiring immediate action to remedy.
The least contaminated of all the sites featured in the study was a lodge in Namibia that houses several telescopes rented to amateur astronomers, according to Dr Fabio Falchi. Falci, a physicist specialising in light pollution at the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela in Spain, was the lead researcher of the survey.
“The least contaminated of all the sites in the study is a lodge in Namibia that hosts several telescopes that are rented to amateurs for visual, photography and research uses. I was recently there and I can confirm that it is the least light polluted site I’ve ever seen.”
He added: “We must try to decrease the light pollution levels at other sites in order to protect the future of ground-based astronomy”.
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