"Mike Dworetsky" wrote in message
...

Here in London, the sky is pretty bright, but sometimes you can get good
things to happen. Until recently, University of London Observatory was
plagued by glare from local streetlights. Recently, Transport for London
wanted to relight the A1 outside our gates. Through some long
negotiations
and with good will on both sides (plus outstanding contributions from
lighting manufacturer Urbis) we have ended up with lighting so well
directed
and shielded that, when standing inside the Observatory, the first
impression is that the lights along the road have failed.

It is now so dark in the grounds that we are having to contemplate
installing low level path lighting for safety during observing sessions.

Not only that, but the road is safely lit to modern standards. You don't
have to throw light all over the place to get "safety" or "security".


I had a walk past the observatory when I was passing through the area a
couple of weeks ago, and can confirm all this, also, the old buildings
seemed to be lit up like a Christmas tree ! I was impressed too with the
solar sytem themed paintings on the walls of the nearby subway, but wonder
why, when 8 of the planets depicted had a strong basis in accuracy, that of
Venus looked as if it was painted by somebody 'on' something.