When the court lights flicker at the US Open, tennis stars shine under lighting to cut slight pollution.
The wedge -shaped lamps around the Usta Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Direct light on the players without spit in the surrounding sky.
The stadium complex is the only professional sports location that is certified by a group that tries to retain the nightly heaven around the world. In North America and Canada, schools and local parks have also exchanged their lights on baseball fields, running and other recreational rounds to keep their view of the stars and to protect the local animals in the wild.
Night lights can disrupt bird migration and confuse nocturnal critters such as frogs and fireflies. Lights on sports fields are particularly clear and cool and often throw their blinding in neighborhoods.
In renovations in the past decade, the American tennis club exchanged Metal Halogen -Lamps for protected LED lights. The 17 tournament paths of the complex-including Arthur Ashe Stadium and five practice lanes were approved last year as dark heaven-friendly.
USTA officials wanted the best possible lighting on their courts, which happened to be friendly to a dark sky. Their lighting company proposed to find a balance that crowds and TV crews would satisfy while reducing the landing in the surrounding environment.
“This is an international event that has an impact on the community,” said the USTA director of capital projects and Engineering Chuck Jettmar. “Let’s minimize that and ensure that everyone is happy with it.”
US Open qualifying matches were interrupted by players who growl, crickets and cheers. Rows with lights stood as sentences above, decorated with flat sights that led the glow on the action.
The lights at Flushing Meadows glow at a quarter of their brightness when the courts are rented during the year before playing. They are approved by Darksky International, a non -profit organization that gives similar names to cities and national parks. The group broadened its focus to record sports areas in recent years and has certified more than 30 locations since 2019 – including football fields in high school and youth football fields.
“We live in a world where we have to deal with each other in the nocturnal environment, and that’s ok,” said Darksky spokesman Drew Reagan. “That is a wonderful thing and there is a way to do that in a responsible manner.”
The organization usually approves proposals for sports fields before lighting competitions are installed or replaced. Once the construction is completed, a representative measures the glow and glare against a series of guidelines that benefit the night.
Renovating a field with dark skies in mind can cost around 5% to 10% more than traditional sports lighting, according to James Brigagliano, which runs the outdoor sports lighting program of Darksky. Locations may require a few extra fixtures, because the light that shines of them is more focused.
Most arenas make the change during planned maintenance and renovation, together with sports lighting company Musco. The company illuminates more than 3,000 locations per year, including the Football Stadiums, Tennis Courses and Train Winds.
At Superstition Shadows Park in Apache Junction, Arizona, children play T-ball and baseball in the evening, when the darkness offers a short interruption of the summer heat. The park and recreation department of the city replaced its aging lights last year with protected, dark heaven-friendly luminaires with federal and local government financing.
People venture to Apache Junction partly because “they can leave the city and still see stars,” said the city parks and recreational director Liz Langenbach. The city is located on the edge of the Phoenix Metro area, limited by rolling mountains and sweeping deserts.
“The choices we make for lighting, I think, influence that,” said Langenbach.
In Université Sainte-Anne in Canada, students walk on a new track and football field equipped with lights that Darksky approved last year. Researchers from the Native University Study, Nocturnal Animals such as the Northern Saw-Whet Owl.
The lights are “good for everyone,” said university spokesperson Rachelle Leblanc. “For tourism, for our students, for our neighbors, for the animals with which we share our campus.”
Night lights harm the surrounding environment, no matter how protected they are. A small fraction of their light can still be noticed by Darksky, because it is necessary to keep track of flying balls.
“You can definitely have the best, most carefully designed stadium lighting in the world, and you still create light pollution,” said Travis Longcore, an expert in urban light pollution at the University of California, Los Angeles.
The American open courts stand side by side with fierce lights from Manhattan and Queens-Zodat that they can only make a piece of the sky darker. But Darksky says that every lighting fixture makes a difference, and a professional arena can influence others.
“I am not saying that as people we have to switch off all the lights,” Longcore said. “I think you should make improvements of where you are.”
Published – August 26, 2025 1:30 pm is
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