AP The newly renovated Griffith Park Observatory in Los Angeles.

The glitter is another layer of light pollution — a scourge of astronomers — in a city perhaps better known for other types of pollution.

Light pollution is a product of modern life and is particularly acute in Los Angeles where the glare of headlights, streetlights, neon signs, stadiums and millions of homes blotches the night sky. It prevents people from seeing the stars and obscures the views of astronomers peering into deep space.

So how to get around this problem? One option: Instead of looking for stars at night, look for a planet moving past the sun in the middle of the day.

___

THE TRANSIT OF MERCURY

The Griffith Observatory reopened earlier this month after a $93 million renovation and restoration project that left it closed for nearly five years. It's an icon in Los Angeles and one of the city's most popular attractions, with a focus on public astronomy and bringing science to the masses.

Given its location in the middle of a city often shrouded in light pollution and smog, it might not seem like a particularly useful observatory. But its lawns were filled with more than two dozen specially fitted telescopes last week so the public could watch Mercury slowly cross the face of the sun.

The 400-member Los Angeles Astronomical Society held a "Star Party" for the so-called "transit of Mercury" and members provided the telescopes, said society president Dave Sovereign, 69, of Altadena.

Watch the attached video report too see what the event was like.

___

THE STARS AT NIGHT

So what about that more familiar type of astronomical sky-watching — the kind that happens at night?

Yes, light-pollution prevents astronomers from viewing deep-space objects. But the society does hold dark-sky star parties, Sovereign said.

"We own an observatory up in Ventura County about 90 miles north of here and it's dark enough," said Sovereign, a former NASA engineer on the space shuttle program.

___

Paul Chavez is an asap reporter based in Los Angeles.

Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register.