Dark Sky Partners LLC

Dark Sky Partners LLC

Contributing to the preservation of starry night skies for future generations through

í Assessment of the impact of outdoor lighting on the night sky

í Assistance with development of outdoor lighting ordinances

Principals

Donald R. Davis, Ph.D. is a planetary astronomer, working primarily in the field of small body evolution and dynamics. He has been actively involved in light pollution educational and control efforts since 1986, serving as president of the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) Board of Directors (1997-2005), and sitting on the Pima County Outdoor Lighting Committee (1986-2005; chair 1994-1998). He has been involved with the quantitative measurement of skyglow since the pioneering study done at Organ Pipe National Monument (1995).

Christian B. Luginbuhl is an astronomer specializing in the quantification and modeling of the effects of outdoor artificial lighting on the night sky, lighting codes and their effect on controlling sky glow, as well as more traditional astronomical photometric and astrometric studies of low-mass stars. He has been involved in light pollution control efforts since 1986, and was a principal author of the innovative 1989 Flagstaff and Coconino County (AZ) outdoor lighting codes, as well as the IDA Outdoor Lighting Code Handbook and Pattern Code. He has assisted over two dozen communities with development of outdoor lighting codes.

Paul A. Boley is a graduate student in astrophysics, currently studying abroad in Russia. He graduated from the University of Arizona in 2006, and works with numerical modeling of the radiative properties of nebular regions. He worked as a programmer on light pollution modeling software from 2003-2007, developing programs to predict night-sky brightness for Coconino and Pima counties in Arizona.

Selected Publications

"Outdoor Lighting Code Handbook and U.S.A. Pattern Lighting Code," C.B. Luginbuhl (ed.), International Dark-Sky Association, Tucson, 2000

"Why Astronomy Needs Low-Pressure Sodium Lighting," C.B. Luginbuhl, in "Preserving the Astronomical Sky'', IAU Symposium No. 196, eds. R. J. Cohen and W. T. Sullivan, III (PASP, San Francisco, USA), pp. 81-86, 2001

"Using DMSP Nighttime Imagery to Evaluate Lighting Practice in the American Southwest," C.B. Luginbuhl, in "Preserving the Astronomical Sky," IAU Symposium No. 196, eds. R. J. Cohen and W. T. Sullivan, III (PASP, San Francisco, USA), pp. 103-106, 2001

"Light Source Spectral Distribution, Visibility, and Sky Glow," C.B. Luginbuhl, poster presented at International Dark-Sky Association Annual General Meeting, Tucson, AZ 9-11 March 2001

"Light Outputs of Internally Illuminated Signs," C.B. Luginbuhl, poster presented at International Dark-Sky Association Annual General Meeting, Tucson, AZ 9-11 March 2001

"The Loss of Our Night Skies: Why?," C.B. Luginbuhl, in "Viewing the Sky Through Past and Present Cultures, selected papers from the OxfordVII International Conference on Archaeoastronomy," eds. T.W. Bostwick and B. Bates, Pueblo Grande Museum Anthropological Papers No. 15, (City of Phoenix), pp. 463-470, 2006

"Measuring Night-Sky Brightness with a Wide-Field CCD Camera," D.M. Duriscoe, C.B. Luginbuhl, C.A. Moore, Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac. 119: 192-213, 2007

Selected outdoor lighting codes written with assistance of DSP principals*

Flagstaff, Arizona

o Flagstaff City Code, Title 10, Chapter 10-08, Division 10-08-002

Coconino County, Arizona

o Coconino County Zoning Ordinance, Chapter 17

Cottonwood, Arizona

o City of Cottonwood Zoning Ordinance, Section 408

Yavapai County, Arizona

o Planning and Zoning Ordinance, County of Yavapai, Section 120

Pima County, Arizona

o Pima County Code, Chapter 15.12

Sedona, Arizona

o Sedona Land Development Code, Article 9, Subsection 911.01

Tucson, Arizona

Cochise County, Arizona

o Cochise County Light Pollution Code

Homer Glen, Illinois

San Benito County, California

o San Benito County Code, Chapter 32

* Lighting codes are subject to complex processes during their writing, revision, adoption and possible later amendment. Inclusion in this list does not constitute an endorsement by Dark Sky Partners LLC of the code.

Last edited 18 April 2008