Op-Ed: Los Angeles Light Pollution

Spectators and photographers line up on March 13, at the Griffith Park Observatory to view spotlights lighting the route of the L.A. Marathon from Dodger Stadium to Santa Monica.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Aug. 16, 2015 5 AM PT

The view of downtown Los Angeles from the Griffith Park Observatory on March 13, 2015. The horizontal light streaks are helicopters captured in a three second exposure.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Star gazers relax on a dry lake bed in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park as a meteor streaks through the sky on Aug. 11, 2013. The cloud-like Milky Way stretches into the amber glow of distant city lights over the southern horizon.

(Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

College photography professors Donna Cosentino and Judith Preston watch a Perseid meteor streak through the starry sky above Anza Borrego Desert State Park on Aug. 13, 2015. The orange glow is from the lights of Salton City about 10 miles away.

(Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)