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Lowell observatory5/3/2023 Flagstaff was also situated on the east-west transcontinental railroad line, seeing the town grow massively throughout the later 1890s. The unincorporated frontier town was chosen for the site of the Lowell Observatory due to its high elevation of 7,000 feet (2,130 meters). In 1894, Lowell established the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona Territory (this was prior to Arizona’s admission to the US as a state) on the recommendation of fellow astronomer A.E. Lowell followed in the footsteps of most who came to America searching for opportunity: he went out west. But his failure to reach the scientific community in New England only saw his research increase. However, the lack of scientific backing of these theories saw Lowell discredited among the astronomical community in New England. These ideas were quite popular with the public and Lowell’s theories went on to influence a great number of science fiction writers such as H.G. He believed that craters on Mars’ surface were once intricate canals that distributed water across the planet. Lowell had pursued a series of now-discredited theories surrounding different astronomical events in particular, he was an avid promoter of the theories that Mars once sustained intelligent life. Built in 1894, the Observatory was established by Percival Lowell, a mathematician and astronomer from Massachusetts. This is due to Flagstaff being home to the Lowell Observatory, most notable for its discovery of Pluto in 1930. Prior to its status as the “Dark Sky City”, Flagstaff was known as the “Skylight City”. The great effort from both the local community and government to crack down on light pollution has precedents in Flagstaff’s history of astronomy. These reforms have made Flagstaff one of the most exclusive cities in the world, where one can observe the stars uninterrupted. This coalition gained massive support from the community, seeing communal rallying around fighting light pollution and, in 2001, Flagstaff was recognized by the International Dark-Sky Society as the world’s first “International Dark Sky City”. In 1999, the Dark Sky Coalition was founded by former US Naval astronomer Chris Luginbuhl and Lance Diskan, who moved to Flagstaff from Los Angeles to ensure his children could grow up seeing the stars at night. Additionally, they introduced a series of solar-powered street lights that had fixtures to focus the path of the light directly down and limit glare. In 1989, a series of laws were introduced that restricted types of lighting to low emission. In 1958, Flagstaff banned large searchlights within city limits. The problems caused by light pollution are practically exclusive to industrialized, highly urbanized areas, due to the presence of lights from streetlamps, cars, houses, billboards, or any other luminous objects. This unnecessary use of light creates skyglow, the brightening of a night sky, causing an inability to see stars or planets accurately. This occurs when a light beam reflects off a surface, such as a pavement or road, or there is a significant glare from light being unfocused on a particular area. Light pollution is the inappropriate or excessive use of artificial light, often making stars in the night sky invisible to humans. Due to more than three decades of comprehensive and coordinated legislative efforts, the city reduced light pollution immensely. Unlike most cities, Flagstaff is one of the few urbanized locations where one can see the night sky very clearly. Known as the “Dark Sky City”, Flagstaff, Arizona has differentiated itself from most cities in the United States and the world.
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