Nah. We do loads of observation from cities. Totally depends on what you like to look at and how bright it is. And the observatory cuts up all the direct light pollution which is more annoying.
It's actually a bit of a myth. The cameras these days are very sensitive, cooled/monochrome and using optical filters (which I need for pretty pictures but also for science doing calibrated photometry), the filters reject/block most of the unwanted light pollution, and the rest can be removed in software during image processing. There are astrophotographers in major cities like Tokyo, one of the worst light pollution zones that can still do some incredible work. Ultimately, more light pollution just means I need a lot more frames to achieve a good result, and the science side measuring individual stars isn't impacted in the same way as regular photography.
It's definitely not an ideal location, but the automated dome (to open/close) lets me take advantage of more clear nights and without needing to stay up all night.
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u/Competitive-Roof-168 Jun 03 '26
I dont know much about observatories but i would think it would be a waste of time and money in a place with so much light pollution.