WISRD Research & Engineering Journal

Figure 1. Map of light pollution in Southern California. The table below showcases detailed information on the light pollution in Southern California shown in the figure above. This table utilizes the Bortle scale. The Bortle scale is a nine-level numeric scale that measures the night sky’s brightness of a particular location. It quantifies the astronomical observability of celestial objects and the interference caused by light pollution. Color Artificial / Natural Sky Brightness Bortle Scale (Approx)

Sky Brightness mags / sq arcsec V Band

< 0.01

22.00 to 21.99

1

0.01 to 0.06

21.99 to 21.93

2

0.06 to 0.11

21.93 to 21.89

2

0.11 to 0.19

21.89 to 21.81

3

0.19 to 0.33

21.81 to 21.69

3

0.33 to 0.58

21.69 to 21.51

4

0.58 to 1.00

21.51 to 21.25

4

1.00 to 1.73

21.25 to 20.91

4.5

1.73 to 3.00

20.91 to 20.49

4.5

3.00 to 5.20

20.49 to 20.02

5

5.20 to 9.00

20.02 to 19.50

5

9.00 to 15.59

19.50 to 18.95

6

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