Onan Observatory

NORWOOD-YOUNG AMERICA, MN - Not many people know there is a public astronomical observatory in Baylor Regional Park near Norwood-Young America. The Minnesota Astronomical Society built it, and holds "star parties" there.

The question is whether it will lose the night sky.

The observatory's main feature is a 16-inch telescope, that once resided in the University of Minnesota-Duluth's observatory. The light monster ate the night sky in Duluth, so in 1980 UMD shut down its observatory, and its astronomy program.

UMD's loss was the Society's gain. The Society bought the telescope at a steal price of $6,500. The Onan Observatory near Norwood now houses the telescope.

But now the light monster of the Twin Cities metro is gnawing its way across the sky, again threatening telescopic views and naked-eye views of the stars, and not just in western Carver County. Everywhere, within a widening circle around the Twin Cities, is losing the night as development creeps outward.

Mike Kibat of the Onan Observatory told reporter Matt Dillman Saturday night,"At one point you could come out here and hold your hand up in front of your eyes and maybe not be able to count your fingers, or be able to see the person's face across from you. It's changed quite a bit."

For the worse. Members of the Minnesota Astronomical Society are just a part of some 8,000 people working to stop light pollution through the International Dark Sky Association. A Minnesota astronomer made a map of Minnesota, showing the amount of light pollution. Click here to see it online. The MAS main web page can be accessed here.

One growing suburban city has taken steps to reduce light pollution. Frank Dempsey works in the Lakeville city planning office. He told Eyewitness News that Lakeville was the first city he knew of, to have an ordinance that limited light spill at gas station/convenience stores.

The lights must not be brighter than 150 candle power under the canopy, and light is not supposed to extend beyond the property lines. The operations usually accomplish this by using recessed lighting in the canopies over the pumps. Dempsey says many other cities contacted Lakeville when it passed the ordinance in 1997.

Lakeville also has a lighting policy for other commercial developments. Dempsey says developers have cooperated so far, so there is no need to make it an ordinance. As an example of how it is supposed to work, Dempsey pointed out the Muller Family 18 Theaters complex near County Road 70 and I-35.

"When you're in the parking lot, you have plenty of light, but from beyond the complex, there's very little light spill," Dempsey said.

Astronomers say bad lighting includes spotlights that shine up the sides of buildings and into the sky, such as the Hampton Inn in Burnsville. Car dealerships also throw light beyond their lots, and shopping centers with tall light poles contribute to the problem. So does Mystic Lake Casino's spotlights, which converge into a tipi shape and then continue out into the night sky near Prior Lake.

The astronomers say the best lighting to use for both energy efficiency and for preserving the night sky is sodium vapor lights, directed downward over a specific area.

Astronomers say urban, suburban and even rural kids and adults don't know what they're missing when they tilt their heads upward at night. They won't see what even our grandfathers saw when they were kids.

"If you really do enjoy looking up at night at the Milky Way, you feel your heart kind of sink when you see that; all that light pollution that's going on," said Dave Olmstead of MAS.

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