One-fifth of us have lost sight of Milky Way

Tuesday, 9 June 2009

by Heather Catchpole

Cosmos Online

Comparison showing the effects of light pollution on viewing the sky at night. The southern sky, featuring Sagittarius and Scorpius. Top image shows the sky from Leamington, Utah (population 217). Bottom image shows Orem, Utah (metropolitan area with a population of around 400,000).

Credit: Jeremy Stanley/Wikimedia

SYDNEY: Light pollution has caused one-fifth of the world's population – mostly in mainland Europe, Britain and the U.S. – to lose their ability to see the Milky Way in the night sky.

"The arc of the Milky Way seen from a truly dark location is part of our planet's natural heritage," said Connie Walker, and astronomer from the U.S. National Optical Astronomy Observatory in Tucson, Arizona.

Yet "more than one fifth of the world population, two thirds of the U.S. population and one half of the European Union population have already lost naked eye visibility of the Milky Way."

Star-free night

The phenomenon, caused by the reflection of manmade light by the Earth's atmosphere, impacts astronomical research and can even affect human health, warned Walker, who will present her research on Wednesday at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Pasadena, California.

The effects of light pollution on human health can be as mild as the disruption of the circadian rhythm leading to problems sleeping, but it can also be serious, she said.

Full article here:

http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/2797/one-fifth-us-have-lost-sight-milky-way