The Queensland town of Winton has been certified as an International Dark Sky Community.
The town has committed to managing its light pollution and installed warm bulbs in its streetlights.
Winton Shire Council and tourism operators believe the certification will attract stargazers wanting to experience the natural night sky.
As a flashlight enthusiast that understands beam patterns and lighting pretty well, it frustrates me to no end how much light we throw into the sky for no reason. Just point stuff at the ground in a floodyish beam pattern. There’s no reason to throw light in a 180° pattern, let alone anything more than that.
There’s one city near me that literally has streetlights that point upwards. They’re supposed to be artsy, with upward-facing lamps that reflect off of a curved plate. But the plate isn’t big enough to catch and reflect the entire flood, so those lights are shooting straight into the air for like 50% of their total beam spread.