My whole night of imaging the Orion Nebula got wrecked by a neighbor's security light

I was set up in my backyard in Boise, got everything focused and started a 2 hour exposure run. Then my neighbor across the fence turned on his new, super bright motion light. It flooded my whole setup with white light, ruining every sub. I walked over, knocked on his door at 1 AM, and explained the problem. He was cool about it and agreed to turn it off for the rest of the night. Anyone else have to deal with sudden light pollution messing up a session?

3 comments

3 Comments

susan_hart172mo ago

Ugh, that's the worst feeling... I had a car's headlights wash out a whole series once. It's so frustrating when you're finally set up and something random wrecks it. Glad your neighbor was cool about it though.

burns.pat2mo ago

Totally feel that, @susan_hart17. I've started checking for traffic patterns now before I even set my tripod down.

jordan4641mo ago

Man, that neighbor story reminds me of a time I was trying to see a meteor shower. This was years ago, out in a field. Some guy a mile down the road decided to test his new truck's high beams, just pointing them at the sky for like ten minutes. Completely wrecked the night vision for everyone. We just had to sit there, waiting for the weird blue afterglow to fade from our eyes. Felt like the universe itself was getting photobombed.