Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 52

Exploring
the not-so
subtleties
of light
BY LEIGH ANN HENION
PHOTO BY RYAN RICE
THE
ASTRONOMER
AND THE
OWL
How an excited naturalist and a wellintentioned
town came to collide in the night.
O
ne night, not all that long
ago, a streetlight went on in
a downtown Boone, North
Carolina, neighborhood. Its
bulb had been broken for years, creating
a snaggletooth gap in the bright smile of
lights that curve around the block. In a lot
of places, a dormant streetlight's activation
would be seen as cause for celebration.
But, for the residents of this neighborhood,
it was viewed as a life-or-death
concern demanding immediate attention.
Richard Gray, professional astronomer,
was the first to notice the new bulb.
This seems fitting, since an astronomer's
job is, at root, to study light. Astronomers
take images of nebulae, swirls of dark and
bright, and interpret what's happening in
the interplay. As a researcher, Richard
uses spectroscopes to break stellar light
into component colors the way prisms
reveal rainbows, with hues suggesting a
star's age and velocity.
Years ago, he had to travel winding
mountain roads to access the telescopes at
Appalachian State University's Dark Sky
Observatory. Now he just logs onto apps
from his computer, which gives him the
power to remotely access telescopes from
his house. The whole endeavor could be
handled at a distance via screens and buttons,
but he still often steps into his yard
beforehand to gauge local weather.
It was during one of these regular
surveys that he noticed a streetlight-maintenance
truck. In recent years, the town
has phased out traditional lights for more
energy-efficient bulbs. County workers
weren't aware that
this streetlight had
been nonfunctional for years; they were
just going about their assignment.
The additional artificial light would
have, under any circumstances, been
worrisome for a man who spends his
life attempting to decipher starlight. But
Richard was doubly worried, because
the light emitted wasn't only interrupting
his stargazing-it was reaching into
a wooded lot across the street, all the
way to his newly installed owl-nesting
52 BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM

http://www.BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM

Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024

Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - Cover1
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - Cover2
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 3
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 4
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 5
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 6
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 7
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 8
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 9
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 10
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 11
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 12
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 13
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 14
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 15
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 16
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 17
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 18
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 19
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 20
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 21
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 22
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 23
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 24
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 25
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 26
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 27
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 28
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 29
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 30
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 31
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 32
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 33
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 34
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 35
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 36
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 37
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 38
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 39
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 40
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 41
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 42
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 43
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 44
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 45
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 46
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 47
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 48
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 49
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 50
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 51
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 52
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 53
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 54
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 55
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 56
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 57
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 58
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 59
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 60
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 61
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 62
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 63
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 64
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 65
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 66
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - Cover3
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/leisuremedia360/leisure/brc-jf-2025
https://www.nxtbook.com/leisuremedia360/leisure/blue-ridge-country-nov-dec-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/leisuremedia360/leisure/blue-ridge-country-sept-oct-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/leisuremedia360/leisure/blue-ridge-country-july-august-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/leisuremedia360/leisure/blue-ridge-country-may-june-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/leisuremedia360/leisure/blue-ridge-country-march-april-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/leisuremedia360/leisure/blue-ridge-country-january-february-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/leisuremedia360/leisure/blue-ridge-country-november-december-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/leisuremedia360/leisure/blue-ridge-country-sept-oct-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/leisuremedia360/leisure/blue-ridge-country-july-august-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/leisuremedia360/leisure/blue-ridge-country-may-june-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/leisuremedia360/leisure/blue-ridge-country-march-april-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/leisuremedia360/leisure/blue-ridge-country-january-february-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/leisuremedia360/leisure/blue-ridge-country-november-december-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/leisuremedia360/leisure/blue-ridge-country-september-october-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/leisuremedia360/leisure/blue-ridge-country-july-august-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/leisuremedia360/leisure/blue-ridge-country-may-june-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/leisuremedia360/leisure/BlueRidgeCountryMarchApril2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/leisuremedia360/leisure/blue-ridge-country-january-february-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/BRCND21
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/BRCSO21
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brcja21
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_2021_0506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_2021_0304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_2021_0102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_2020_11_12
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_2020_0910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_2020_0708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_2020_0506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_2020_0304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_2020_0102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_2019_1112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_2019_0910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_2019_0708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_2019_0506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_2019_0304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_2019_0102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_2018_1112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_2018_0910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_2018_0708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_2018_0506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_2018_0304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_2018_0102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_2017_1112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_2017_0910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_2017_0708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_2017_0506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_2017_0304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_20170102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_201612
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_20160910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_20160708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_20160506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_20160304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_20160102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_20151112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_20150910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_20150708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_20150506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_20150304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_20150102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_20141112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_20140910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_20140708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_20140506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_20140304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_20140102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_20131112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_20130910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/brc_20130708
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com