[Physicist]

Bump for a dark sky. Most people don't know what their own galaxy looks like.

[Publius]

Most people don't know what their own galaxy looks like.

So true. I grew up in suburban South Jersey and didn't see the night sky until I was 23 and on night maneuvers at Fort Gordon, GA. A guy from rural North Carolina started ribbing me that night, and I didn't hear the end of it until I graduated the Signal Officers' Basic Course a few weeks later.

[sphinx]

We took the world's greatest four year old to Big Meadows Lodge on Skyline Drive a couple of weeks ago. Totally unprompted, she volunteered, "Hey, there's a lot of stars!" In fact, it was a clear night, and I'm glad to report the whole Milky Way is still there. Can't see it in the city, of course.

So the city girl now knows there are more than a dozen stars. Too bad we have to drive a hundred miles to show her.

[united1000]

Do you remember during the earthquake in CA that the police were getting calls from people who had slept in the street the night before about all the lights in the sky? They had no idea what they were seeing!!! They were seeing STARS !!

There is not a reason in the world that a person can't install a light fixture that shines the light down, instead of a fixture that shines half the light up into the sky! It's a waste of energy, costs more, and ruins the night sky!! Good luck to them........

[edwin hubble]

I have a sense that my grandchildren will never see the Milky Way in their lifetimes.

And the maddening excess of lighting is a matter of ethics, aesthetics, and plain common sense energy engineering.

A month ago on the dark of the moon I saw 5th-6th magnitude stars right to the horizon...within 45 minutes of my house...(a night to remember).