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Unveiling the Mysteries of Socotra’s Night Sky: A Photographer’s Journey

“A Celestial and Botanical Wonder” – As an avid photographer and nature enthusiast, I had the opportunity to visit Socotra Island on my latest photography tour. Socotra is a remote island off the coast of Yemen, where I captured some breathtaking images. Those include the island’s unique flora and fauna, including its famous bottle trees and dragon trees.

In addition to the island’s remarkable plant life, I was also struck by the beauty of the night sky. Far from the light pollution of civilization, the sky over Socotra Island is a canvas of stars and galaxies, providing an awe-inspiring backdrop for my photographs.

If you’re unfamiliar with the island of Socotra, let me briefly introduce its location and how I stumbled upon this hidden paradise.

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No more astrophotography? Night skies brighter every year says report

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It’s bad news for stargazers and astrophotographers. A recent study reports that night skies are becoming almost 10% brighter every single year since the study began in 2011. What’s more, that’s the world over, not just in certain locations.

Over 50,000 citizen scientists were asked to monitor how visible the stars were during the research period to measure how light pollution is affecting human views of the stars worldwide. They were shown maps of the sky at different levels of light pollution and asked which most closely matched their view.

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Designers reimagine big cities without billboards in a striking set of photos

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As photographers, we know how big of a pain light pollution is: it affects our night photos and vision of the night sky. But even though we may not be aware of it, it also negatively affects our mood, sleep cycle, and overall well-being.

To emphasize the impact of light pollution and other types of visual pollution, HouseFresh teamed up with designers to freshen up the view of eight famous locations. Inspired by Rinat Rizvanov’s images of Times Square without the ads, they reimagined these popular places without massive billboards and bright lights. And the difference is striking!

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Europe’s switch to LED lights is visible from space, scientists are concerned

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In an attempt to reduce energy consumption and make street lighting more environmentally friendly, Europe has been switching to LEDs in its street lights. However, it’s not necessarily a good choice, at least not in all aspects.

The switch to LEDs is already visible from space, as well as the light pollution they cause. Of course, it’s not only our photos and the view of the night sky that are being affected. As scientists warm, the increased use of LED lights will also mess with living creatures and their life cycles, including both animals and humans.

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Quick grab your camera, the UK’s starry skies are the clearest they’ve been for ten years

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Great news for any UK based astrophotographers, or indeed for anyone travelling to the UK who wants to photograph the night sky. The night sky over Great Britain is currently the least polluted light-wise than it’s been since 2011, according to a recent survey.

The survey was carried out by countryside charity CPRE which has been measuring light pollution for the past ten years. Amounts peaked prior to the covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and then subsequently dropped, as you might expect. However, light pollution levels haven’t yet returned to those pre-pandemic levels.

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Light pollution is a problem that’s only going to get worse if we don’t do something about it

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Light pollution is a pain, particularly to astrophotographers but to the human population in general, as you’ll discover in this video from Trevor Jones at AstroBackyard. The problems for astrophotographers are quite obvious. It ruins their photography, which seems like kind of a first world problem, but given the scientific discoveries that come through gazing at (and photographing) the stars, there is a bigger picture there, too.

But it’s not just astrophotographers and scientists that are suffering. There’s an even bigger picture that’s harming pretty much the planet’s entire population and affecting our circadian rhythm. This is the process by which our bodies naturally go through physical, mental and behavioural changes in a 24-hour cycle. It’s affected primarily by lightness and darkness and affects all living things – including people.

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Light pollution is ruining your photos, follow these three tips to minimize it

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If you live in a city, photographing night skies is a challenge, to say the least. Light pollution affects our photos and makes the sky suck, coming from the ground and even from the sky. Even though we can’t lower light pollution on a global level, at least we can do something to minimize its impact in our photos. In this video from B&H, astrophotographer Jess Santos will tell you how.

Jess helps you get past light pollution and raise your night sky photos to a higher level. But she also shares some important facts about light pollution that affect more than just our photos.

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PureNight Premium filter helps astrophotographers beat light pollution

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When you decide to photograph night sky, the first problem you’ll encounter is most likely to be light pollution. If you live in a city, not only you can’t photograph the stars, but you can barely see them in the night sky. Only when you move outside the city, you can get a clear view of the starry sky. However, light pollution still leaves its mark on your photos by giving them unnatural orange-yellow tint. So, Lonely Speck has created PureNight Premium, a filter that will help you fight this problem.

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