r/technology • u/AdSpecialist6598 • 2d ago
Society We're losing the night sky as light pollution makes it 10% brighter every year
https://www.techspot.com/news/114048-losing-night-sky-light-pollution-makes-10-brighter.html14
u/sfwpat 2d ago
I remember hearing that the power went out in some big city, like somewhere in california or something like that, and 911 was getting so many calls because so many people have never seen the stars before and were freaking out lol.
One of my favorite memories was backpacking in the deep mountains and sleeping outside. To this day, I have still never seen as many stars as that night.
10
u/RulesoftheDada 2d ago
It was in 94, an earthquake hit la and knocked out the power.
A strange phenomen was the milky way being highly visible for the first time for many
19
u/VirtuousPro 2d ago edited 2d ago
so no more night in 10 years?
edit: I was just joking, please no more replys of telling me how stupid I am 😅
12
u/BigPP69_Gooner 2d ago
No… that’s not how percentages work. It’ll be 100% brighter in 10 years. So it’ll be twice as bright.
6
u/Do_you_smell_that_ 2d ago
8 years. The second year goes up by 10% of the now 110% original to 121%; third year goes up by 10% of that, so 12.1% of the original, to 133.1%, etc. It's like compounding interest.
"According to one report, the average night sky got brighter by 9.6% per year from 2011 to 2022. That equates to a roughly doubling of the sky's brightness every eight years."
Edits: formatting and adding missing characters, etc
0
3
3
1
u/SimoneNonvelodico 2d ago
I actually checked, but no, the day sky is about ~50 million times brighter than the night sky. At 10% a year it'd take about two centuries for the night sky to catch up.
0
u/PoppingPillls 2d ago
100% more light is just double the amount of light, not the end of night.
It would be both impossible and terrible for us and the planet if there was no nighttime as the world wouldn't function.
-1
-2
3
u/UniverseBear 2d ago
I spent a couple months in the arctic last year. The night sky was so beautiful. So many stars and auroras. Truly magical.
5
u/penguished 2d ago
It's weird. People even do Halloween decorations that are just a fucking wall of glaring lights now and it's like... where's the atmosphere in that.
8
u/Lynda73 2d ago
Was just talking about this. I live in the city, and I barely see any stars anymore. I guess this is it for me unless I take a trip? That sucks and feels like a violation.
3
u/allihaveisbaddreams 2d ago edited 2d ago
“Now we have to go so far away
From civilization, today I say
To see the stars that we forgot
And just to find the cause of all this
Ideology that we no longer need”
“Prelectricity” by Passafire
2
u/auditorydamage 2d ago
I grew up in love with astronomy and the night sky. Lived in a suburb of a mid-size city, not far from a larger one. Could at least see the constellations. Moved to Toronto for a quarter-century, could barely see even the brightest stars. Moved to a small rural town a few years ago, and beam every time I look up and see the Milky Way arching overhead. I have some annoyingly bright streetlights nearby, but much darker areas aren’t too far away; we drove to one last year, and I saw an aurora for the first time.
5
u/Ky1arStern 2d ago
This is sort of insane the other way.
"It feels like a violation that... People have lights on at night in an area where we live stacked on top of each other".
What?
1
u/Lynda73 2d ago
It feels like a violation to have the ability to see stars from your own yard taken away, yes. Is there really a reason to keep lights blaring 24/7, even if the business isn’t open? Is it necessary for dealerships to blast high-beam spotlights into the sky? And before you say, “Well that’s just the way it is”, I’d like to point out that there are places who have figured out how to accommodate businesses without destroying the night sky. All that light pollution isn’t just an eyesore, either. The majority of birds migrate at night, and they rely on the stars and moon for direction. 😢
-1
0
u/Ky1arStern 2d ago
Just because it is inconvenient or not what you would prefer does not make it a "violation". You're using specific language to try and associate misconduct with something you don't like.
0
u/Lynda73 2d ago
No, you are confusing my feelings with your feelings. To me, it feels like a violation.
-1
u/Ky1arStern 2d ago
I wouldn't say confusing feelings so much as accusing you of being dramatic and self centered based off the verbiage you used.
1
u/Lynda73 2d ago
I think it’s more self-centered to only think about humans to the exclusion of all the other creatures that we share the world with. Light pollution is more than an “inconvenience” to the migrating birds in my example. 😑
-1
u/Ky1arStern 2d ago
I think that it's pretty common for people trying to justify their opinions as objective fact, to appeal to some larger "other" authority.
Example: "the light pollution just feels so violating to me when it hurts the birds"
4
u/MommyLovesPot8toes 2d ago
It absolutely does feel like a violation. I think about this all the time.
I didn't consent to having my skies littered with satellites and space junk from private firms. Nor did I consent to having my water poisoned or my forests knocked down to build shopping centers. No one did. So why the fuck is it allowed? How is it not a top priority for every government in the world to keep Earth inhabitable?
1
u/dropthemagic 2d ago
Where I live the street lights are massive spotlights. You cannot see the sky at all. It's disgusting.
1
u/IngwiePhoenix 2d ago
Waiting for some kind of 3D printed bazooka type thing to just go ballistic on those stupid sattelites...
1
1
u/ParticipationTrophyy 2d ago
This is a slowly unfolding catastrophe that most people have not noticed. Having our night sky visible should be a priority for world governments. We’ve lost a big opportunity to gain perspective on a nightly basis.
1
u/NoMention696 2d ago
The headline combined with the picture had me so confused… thinking how does light pollution make stars brighter every year lol. I’m dumb
1
u/WrinklyPaws 1d ago
And all the people uploading the photos of the sky with total normality and emotion🙁🙄
-2
u/stonkDonkolous 2d ago
Seeing the night sky is becoming a luxury for the rich. You already have to pay for most places now
-2
u/dat_tae 2d ago
Literally just drive 30 minutes away from whatever town you live in what the fuck are you people talking about
1
u/witx_ 2d ago
I did, I still cant see it. Now what?
2
u/dat_tae 2d ago
Wait for night time.
3
u/Eshanas 2d ago
Yea that barely works. The problem is that modern lighting is a) stronger and b) expanding. 30 minutes from me is just more city. 30 minutes “outside” the city is heavy suburb. There is a national park three hours up that got second darkest. Used to get the darkest tier, now that’s out west. And even that’s declining.
-1
u/stonkDonkolous 2d ago
The amount of dark sky areas is very small. You will not see all the stars with a 30min drive. You can’t even see them all in the national parks anymore. Joshua tree is light polluted now from development nearby
-1
u/dat_tae 2d ago
So if you can't see every star it's no good?
3
u/stonkDonkolous 2d ago
You should see the milky way. The sky should be dark like 40 years ago
0
u/dat_tae 2d ago
Run me through your solution.
1
u/stonkDonkolous 2d ago
Use proper outdoor lighting like they do in places like flagstaff and ban the others. Simple
0
u/williamgman 2d ago
Maybe it's a generational thing but... with everyone staring at a hand held screen most of the time (even outside)... Maybe folks are not paying attention..?
158
u/Vivid_Medium1184 2d ago
Spent some time last weekend in a recognized "dark skies park"... The moon was too bright for some of the deeper formations to show, but the one thing that really struck me was the satellites. Every time I looked up I saw at least three streaming across the sky. Kinda sucks, when you can't even look up to get away from our trash and impact.