Superior Dark Sky Experience

Since the dawn of humanity, we have relied on the night sky for navigation, cultural inspira­tion, and even our survival. We owe our 7-day week, our 30-day months, and the science of astronomy to the night sky. We learned to nav­igate by the stars, and we learned to use the stars to mark our seasons, so we’d know when to plant, when to harvest, and when to travel to new hunting grounds. Finding our way to new lands and back home, and growing enough food for survival required intimate knowledge of the night sky. But the stars did more than help us survive -they became the sources and repositories of our cultural stories, and they spawned religions and beliefs around the globe and across time. We placed our heroes, our vil­lains, our monsters, and even unicorns in starry constellations -constellations that were unique to each culture. The stars held our examples of good and evil, our cultural ideas of right and wrong, and lessons and guidelines for daily life. The stars and the milky way were also the residences of our ancestors and our deities, and we looked upon them with reverence and took comfort from their presence.

As light pollution steals the stars from our sky it takes with it the cultural treasures they held, and the tapestry of cultural uniqueness woven by cultures across the world becomes a bit more drab.

The loss of the night sky isn’t only a cultural loss, it’s also a personal loss. When we stand under a star-filled sky, or marvel at the dance of the aurora or get lost in the misty glow of the milky way arching overhead we experience awe, and that’s a big deal. It’s a big deal because research shows awe has positive benefits for us personally, and also for how we view and inter­act with the world around us. At the personal level, experiencing awe can boost your mood, reduce stress, lower blood pressure, sharpen your thinking, and help you feel more satisfied with your life. From a social standpoint, ex­periencing awe can make us kinder and more generous, it expands our sense of time, making us less impatient and more willing to share our time to help others, it helps us feel more con­nected to those around us, and it helps increase our humility. Wow! All of those benefits from simply looking up at the night sky (assuming light pollution hasn’t stolen the stars and taken our sense of awe with it).

Here are some simple things you can do to reduce light pollution. In your home, simply close your shades and curtains at night. That will keep indoor light indoors, which is where you wanted it in the first place. In your neigh­borhood: ask your neighbors to do the same (do they know all their neighbors can see every­thing going on in their house when they leave their curtains open at night?). In your commu­nity: Ask businesses to turn off parking lot, promotional, and advertising lights during the overnight hours, when they serve no purpose.