Light pollution

This picture of the night sky was taken from a national geographic article that I read. Personally I have never seen such starry night sky before. Usually I see a moon and one or two stars at night in built up Singapore, the best night sky I have seen was probably in tekong. But it still pales in comparison to the one in the picture.

To quote from the article, "In most cities the sky looks as though it has been emptied of stars, leaving behind a vacant haze ... "

"We've grown so used to this pervasive orange haze that the original glory of an unlit night—dark enough for the planet Venus to throw shadows on Earth—is wholly beyond our experience, beyond memory almost."

"And yet above the city's pale ceiling lies the rest of the universe, utterly undiminished by the light we waste—a bright shoal of stars and planets and galaxies, shining in seemingly infinite darkness."

And many biological lifeform humans and animals alike have been affected by light pollution in one way or another.

"In a very real sense, light pollution causes us to lose sight of our true place in the universe, to forget the scale of our being, which is best measured against the dimensions of a deep night with the Milky Way—the edge of our galaxy—arching overhead."

"Of all the pollutions we face, light pollution is perhaps the most easily remedied."

I hope I get to see a real night sky at least once in my lifetime.

les