Man-made light emission largely limits the magnitude of stars and other objects we can see in the night sky, either by the naked eye or with a telescope. Increasing population density and badly illuminated billboards result in bright skies. Also in astrophotography lightpollution is a big problem: Total exposure times have to be increased dramatically to get pictures of dim objects. There are many sources of light pollution around the Antares Observatory and things unfortunately don't get better with time. The maximum magnitude reached here is about mag 5 at its best (not before roadlights have partly been switched off).

Below you see two lightpollution maps of the area. For additional information, see also:

1. Light pollution in switzerland (diploma thesis by R. Kobler - in german)
2. Dark sky association switzerland (german)
3. International Dark sky association
4. Dietmar Hager - Astrophotographer and physician. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!