Light Pollution and the Future of Astronomy

Light pollution is a big problem for astronomers.  The abundance of lights near larger population centers makes building visible telescopes anywhere near civilization a lost cause.  Thus most optical telescopes (those that use mirrors and observe visible wavelengths) are built far from cities and at higher elevations.  There are usually fewer cities near high elevations area, but higher elevations also gets you above some of the atmosphere, increasing the quality of images obtained.  But there's only so far astronomers can go from large cities and the population of the world continues to increase, resulting in increased light.

Another problem, explained in detail in the article linked below, is the switch from incandescent and fluorescent light bulbs to LED light bulbs.  LED light bulbs use less energy and can save one a great deal of money over the lifetime of the bulb, but produce more light at the bluer end of the spectrum, thus decreasing astronomers ability to observe at these wavelengths.  That's not good for those wanting to learn more about our cosmos.

Pollution is endangering the future of astronomy

There's not much to be done about this either.  The use of LED bulbs will continue since they are cost effective and help limit the burning of fossil fuels.  Astronomers and engineers will continue working on methods to allow astronomers to observe the night sky and I'm sure some technology will be developed that will help.  I just find it ironic that a technology that allows us to light areas we need lit while using far less energy, is causing problems in another area of science. 

Example of an LED light bulb used in homes.