Pleas from Astronomers to Save the Night Sky
By staff reporter Cao Haili 08.25.2010
Agitating an astronomer is easy: Just flip a light switch.
Artificial light at night, particularly the reflective sky-glow of urban sprawl, interferes with telescopes and other observatory instruments that astronomers rely upon to do their jobs.
And now, night-light agitation is spreading fast among astronomers working on a new instrument of global scientific significance in China called LAMOST.
As China's first, independently developed, large-scale telescope, LAMOST is currently undergoing start-up tests. The equipment is being installed at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' National Astronomical Observatory in Xinglong County, Hebei Province, at a cost of more than 300 million yuan.
Yet while LAMOST astronomers prepare for the formal launch, they are also defending the project against plans for a theme park near the facility. They say the park would increase the area's light pollution and threaten their scientific pursuits.
The observatory sits on a hill just 7.5 kilometers outside the town of Xinglong and 112 kilometers from downtown Beijing. It's high above human development, at 900 meters above sea level, but it's also nestled under a blanket of ever-growing urban light pollution in the night sky.
That blanket could get a lot brighter if, as Xinhua News Agency recently reported, officials in the nearby city of Chengde follow through with plans to build a national astronomy theme park at the foot of the observatory hill. The park would cost 548 million yuan and cover nearly 24 hectares.
The news prompted observatory researcher Deng Licai to march straight to his superiors and complain. He said that a theme park within 1,000 meters and south of LAMOST would be "a question of life or death for science."
The park "would be disastrous" for researchers at LAMOST, Deng said.
Controversial Site
LAMOST stands for Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope. The instrument is four meters in diameter and has a five-degree field of vision – wider that the three-degree field of vision possible at its main scientific competitor, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey telescope in the United States. The larger size will give LAMOST 10 times more spectral observation capacity for galaxy studies than Sloan.
LAMOST scientists plan to trace the light spectrums from hard-to-see and even dark celestial bodies. But it needs favorable conditions including clean air without dust, proper air currents, and low levels of nearby night lighting.
Many astronomers have long considered Xinglong as a less than ideal location for LAMOST. And some say a theme park would significantly reduce the project's scientific value.
Under current conditions, Deng told Caixin, the observatory can do "good science."
"We are on the edge of being able to do relatively good scientific experiments," he said. And yet as regional development continues, "we are continuously monitoring the deterioration of Xinglong's sky light background."
Moreover, Deng warned that "anything we build near it will make the sky brighter."
LAMOST project director Zhao Yongheng agrees.
"When the sky's background gets brighter," he said "it's equivalent to turning this big telescope into a small one. Its scientific value is significantly discounted."
The astronomer whose work spurred the LAMOST project, Su Dingqiang of the Department of Astronomy at Nanjing University, also firmly opposes building a theme park at the base of the hill. "This would be a heavy attack on China's astronomical pursuits," he said.
An international representative on a review committee for LAMOST, Don York from the University of Chicago, expressed similar concerns to Caixin.
"Temporary lighting for construction and security" of a theme park "is likely not going to be controlled, so the impact on LAMOST could be immediate, meaning it may never realize its potential," York said. "I would personally, strongly recommend against risking reducing the power of the LAMOST project."
York went on the call LAMOST "one of the most significant" astronomical projects "recently carried out in China, and one that has garnered considerable interest in the United States."
Yet Xinglong officials have planned to build an astronomy theme park for a long time. Indeed, the idea was raised 10 years ago when construction of the LAMOST project began.
So far, nothing has happened, despite work on numerous official reports about the park project. But State Council member Liu Yandong visited LAMOST this spring and offered two suggestions: She said the local government should protect the environment in ways that support astronomical observation, and the observatory should help local government promote science and economic development.
Within two months of Liu's visit, officials in Chengde had established a working group for these projects headed by the local Community Party secretary. They began looking at ways to popularize astronomy through education, while building service facilities and infrastructure.
Service facilities would include hotels, summer camps, trailer parks, sites for rural tourism and a shopping district. The combined development was expected to cost 548 million yuan.
But it's unclear whether the development would attract investors who could be counted on to keep nighttime illumination under control.
Long-term Solutions
A former chief scientist at the observatory, Wei Jianyan, told Caixin the theme park project conflicts with Xinglong's local development plan as well as astronomical activities at LAMOST.
Yet even while the debate brews over the park project, the sky at night in the observatory area has continued getting brighter.
The Xinglong station and LAMOST are not alone. Light pollution is a growing concern around the world, and that prompted legislation in many areas to protect astronomical observations. A regulation in Australia, for example, says residents living near an observatory must ensure a dark sky at night.
Chinese Academy of Science observatories in Shanghai and Nanjing have been challenged by city light for many years.
Last year, Shao Zhengyi at the Shanghai Observatory said that if astronomers "used to be able to see 100 celestial bodies, now there are only 30."
Wei thinks that if China wants to resolve this problem, local governments must shoulder more responsibility and take steps to prevent light pollution.
Meanwhile, Deng is pressing for immediate action to save the LAMOST project.
"LAMOST is a culmination of China's astronomical knowledge and strength," Deng said. "It would be very sad if we can't use it because of a theme park."
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