I particularly like this line from the article: "Malenchenko, who has since returned to earth, captured other gem images as well, of such iconic locations as St. Louis, Tokyo and the Sea of Brightness off South Korea."
What makes the city boundary stand out so distinctly? Is the type of streetlight used in the city? A relatively lack of tree cover? Just density? I think it's remarkable that the line is so clear.
The streetlights must be the reason for how well the street grid is discernable.
I remember watching the director's commentary for the movie Collateral a while back. The movie was filmed almost exclusively at night in Los Angeles city (as opposed to LA's suburbs). Michael Mann said that he was enthralled by how the city looked at night, and that how it looked was one of the main reasons he filmed the movie.
He said that what made the city look so intriguing at night was that the streetlights there burned off a metal filament that included rare metals, I believe saying that it used to be mercury but was now some other metal that you wouldn't necessarily think of using. This metal burned off a vapor into the light, which reflected better than a normal filament. Also, this vapor would react with the clouds above the city to give an effect that bounced off of them, and in them, producing a layer of light closer to the ground, and making the city glow appear that much brighter.
Whether STL City has the same streetlights as LA, I don't know. But, I've noticed plenty of times when Downtown how the clouds shone in a pink/purple haze above the City, and I bet that has to do directly with what burns within the streetlights along the City's street grid.
That shot looks great, but it also shows a lot of waste and negative environmental impacts. I don't think adopting a Night Skies ordinance will come anytime soon for Saint Louis, but using lighting fixtures that direct light downwards with minimal dissipation upwards and other best practices would be helpful. I couldn't find any kind of similar shot of Tucson, which has a Night Skies ordinance, but here is this:
There are two types of fixtures used mostly by the city. High Pressure Sodium and Mercury Vapor. High Pressure Sodium gives off a yellow hue. Its used most extensively as you can see by the yellow color of the photo. Mercury vapor gives off a whitish/bluish hue (kind of like some LEDs)
• The City has 18,000 street lights covering 1,000 miles of streets.
• That's one about every 300 feet.
• At 67 square miles, we have 270 street lights per square mile.
• That's about one for every 2-1/2 acres of land.
I've lived in the city for 15 years and have grown accustomed to the light. Last time I drove down Conway Road toward Chesterfield at night, I was certain I was going to die. I had no idea that the outside gets so incredibly dark at night. How do those people cope?
• The City has 18,000 street lights covering 1,000 miles of streets.
• That's one about every 300 feet.
• At 67 square miles, we have 270 street lights per square mile.
• That's about one for every 2-1/2 acres of land.
I've lived in the city for 15 years and have grown accustomed to the light. Last time I drove down Conway Road toward Chesterfield at night, I was certain I was going to die. I had no idea that the outside gets so incredibly dark at night. How do those people cope?
I think we get used to the light living in the city. I think it's plenty dark outside here, but one time I was out in Wildwood driving around and it was genuinely creepy how dark it was. Made me realize that what I consider "dark" is actually pretty light. Same thing driving down 55. The lights abruptly stop as soon as you pass the city limits.
olvidarte wrote:That is beautiful. I can't believe how well defined the city is, even from inner ring communities. The lights follow the city border almost perfectly
The city has significantly more streetlights than the county. I live .8 miles from the city limits and my street has no street lights on it at all; the only illumination comes from porch lights. City streets, comparatively speaking , are lit up like a christmas tree.
