[UCANSEE2]

With the abundance of ‘stars’ in the sky, one wonders why it is even dark at night.

[dr_lew]

With the abundance of ‘stars’ in the sky, one wonders why it is even dark at night.

Ironically, the Wikipedia article on STARLIGHT gives me nothing, but there is a Wikipedia article on DAYLIGHT which gives various comparisons in terms of "lux"

Most significant to me are:

111,000 lux ... Bright sunlight

0.002 lux ... Starlight clear moonless night sky including airglow

0.0002 lux ... Starlight clear moonless night sky excluding airglow

0.00014 lux ... Venus at brightest

I.e. airglow is ten times starlight, and Venus is about as bright as all the stars put together.

[ETCM]

"With the abundance of ‘stars’ in the sky, one wonders why it is even dark at night."

Amazingly, when you are in a place that is truly "dark", the milky way is so bright, it casts a shadow. Most people in the USA have never seen truly dark skies. Many nights at sea, I've seen the milky way from horizon to horizon, but atop Mauna Kea on a new moon was the brightest I've seen it. Even when I camp in the high sierra or northern Idaho, it's not even close to that experience. Until relatively recently, our ancestors saw the milky way in all its glory on every moonless night.