Session
Poster Session 2
Location
Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, UT
Abstract
We are in the process of developing a system which redirects the incoming sunlight to a stationary ground target after sunset and before sunrise. One of the purposes is to extend operating hours of solar-farms to after sunset and before sunrise. Our system contributes to light pollution as a by-product. We have developed an optical model to predict the night sky glow caused by the light coming from an orbital reflector. In this paper we will review some work done by others on the night sky brightness caused by artificial city lights first, then present our results of model predictions on light pollution caused by orbital reflectors, and show how they compare with natural night sky background, measured full-moon night sky brightness, and some data measured for locations near a city or a campus.
Document Type
Event
Night Sky Brightness Caused by Orbital Reflectors
Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, UT
We are in the process of developing a system which redirects the incoming sunlight to a stationary ground target after sunset and before sunrise. One of the purposes is to extend operating hours of solar-farms to after sunset and before sunrise. Our system contributes to light pollution as a by-product. We have developed an optical model to predict the night sky glow caused by the light coming from an orbital reflector. In this paper we will review some work done by others on the night sky brightness caused by artificial city lights first, then present our results of model predictions on light pollution caused by orbital reflectors, and show how they compare with natural night sky background, measured full-moon night sky brightness, and some data measured for locations near a city or a campus.
