Posted on 06/29/2016 11:03:43 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Explanation: How far are you from a naturally dark night sky? In increasing steps, this world map (medium | large) shows the effect of artificial night sky brightness on the visual appearance of the night sky. The brightness was modeled using high resolution satellite data and fit to thousands of night sky brightness measurements in recent work. Color-coded levels are compared to the natural sky brightness level for your location. For example, artificial sky brightness levels in yellow alter the natural appearance of the night sky. In red they hide the Milky Way in an artificial luminous fog. The results indicate that the historically common appearance of our galaxy at night is now lost for more than one-third of humanity. That includes 60% of Europeans and almost 80% of North Americans, along with inhabitants of other densely populated, light-polluted regions of planet Earth.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Image Credit & License: F. Falchi et al., Light Pollution Atlas, ISTIL]
Very interesting post. Thank you.
We took our motor coach to Death Valley last year.
The millions of stars out at 2am were breathtaking
As an east coast guy I had never seen such a show.
Fascinating stuff.
As a suburbanite, I can only imagine what the night sky looks like in the Boonies. It must be glorious.
Even closer to home, at high elevation in the mountains the view is very similar. I love going to the top of Independence Pass at night in the summer (over 12,000 feet) and just being awestruck by the view of the Milky Way. There's a parking lot at the summit, so it's a perfect stargazing spot.
I’ve been through DV several times on the way from here to there. Tough place but very interesting to see.
I was in Somalia for six months in the early 1990s during the US military’s Operation Restore Hope. I had no idea what I had been missing regarding the night sky. It was mind-blowing to see all the stars, constellations, and planets so clearly. There was virtually no night artificial light sources in most places in the country.
One more reason to hate living in the South... I miss the stars at night. I remember all the times I used to go camping in the mountains, soooo many stars..
sigh... 10 more years til freedom.
Yep.
If they don’t like it, let ‘em move to N Korea.
It’s nice and dark there. :-)
I bet they can see it in North Korea!......................
Thank you so much for the post and ping, Mr. Civilizations.
This is the very first time I ever saw anything like this, and I’m just delighted with it. :-)
As usual, your choice of APODs is simply amazing.
:”)
To be fair, I don’t choose ‘em, I just plaster ‘em all over FR. ;’) Thanks ToL for the kind remarks!
Awwww, Mr. Civilizations! You and I have been besties for
the past ten years at least. You can do no wrong, my friend.
Please keep up the great work. And you’re most welcome.
I suspect the International Dark Sky Association is probably fighting a losing battle, but I’ve participated in their studies with my astronomy club years ago. FYI,
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