Sky Brightness Measurements and Ways to Mitigate Light Pollution in Kirksville, Missouri
Vayujeet Gokhale, Jordan Goins, Ashley Herdmann, Eric Hilker, Emily, Wren, David Caples, and James Tompkins

TL;DR
This study measures and compares sky brightness in Kirksville, Missouri, and Anderson Mesa, Arizona, revealing significant light pollution variations and proposing mitigation strategies such as installing shielded outdoor lighting.
Contribution
It provides detailed measurements of light pollution levels and patterns, and discusses practical mitigation efforts in Kirksville, Missouri.
Findings
Anderson Mesa is 1.3 mag/arcsec$^2$ darker than Truman State Observatory.
Sky brightness varies significantly with azimuth, especially at Truman State.
Mitigation efforts include installing shielded outdoor lights.
Abstract
We describe the level of light pollution in and around Kirksville, Missouri and at Anderson Mesa near Flagstaff, Arizona by measuring the sky brightness using Unihedron sky quality meters. We report that, on average, the Anderson Mesa site is approximately 1.3 mag/arcsec darker than the Truman State Observatory site, and approximately 2.5 mag/arcsec darker than the roof of the science building at Truman State University in Kirksville. We also show that at the Truman observatory site, the North and East skies have significantly high sky brightness (by about 1 mag/arcsec) as compared to the South and West skies. Similarly, the sky brightness varies significantly with azimuth on the top of the science building at Truman State -- the west direction being as much as 3 mag/arcsec brighter than the south direction. The sky brightness at Anderson Mesa is much more uniform,…
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Taxonomy
TopicsImpact of Light on Environment and Health
