Before the night was over, I d recalled the legend of a desirable maiden named Andromeda, glimpsed my first binary star, and finally understood why astronomers say that our view of space is really ancient history. I d also appreciated the limits of exploring the universe through an ordinary telescope. Darkening the heavens Stargazers today face a problem that barely existed only a couple of generations ago. Light pollution has spread so much in the last few decades that it compromises nearly everyone s view of the stars. For many urban Americans, the stars no longer really come out at all.
Most light pollution is unnecessary.
It is not an inevitable result of having well-lit streets and cities. As much as three-fourths of the murky glow you see in the sky at night is wasted light beamed directly skyward from poorly designed or improperly installed light fixtures. The upward half is pure waste. The quality of illumination is actually improved as glare is reduced from the near-horizontal beams that dazzle your eyes directly from a bulb. And we regain some of the lost starry heavens.