Astronomers Warn... We May Not See A Large Number Of Night Stars In The Future
Astronomers have warned that stars are disappearing from the night sky before our eyes, because every year, the sky gets 10% brighter, according to a major new study.
This means that a large number of stars that were once visible are now hidden from astronomers and the public.
The study, published in the journal Science, warns that sites with 250 visible stars at present, for example, will have only 100 visible stars within 18 years.
The light pollution that blocks those stars is growing much faster than we realize, despite attempts to reduce it. And it could have drastic consequences, not only for vision of the night sky but for the environment, with impacts on the biological systems of animals, humans, and more.
These are the findings of a major new study that analyzed more than 50,000 observations by citizen scientists around the world, taken between 2011 and 2022. She aimed to fully understand the scale of the problem of "skyglow," or diffuse nighttime light (the sky caused by man-made pollution).
So far, changes in sky brightness have been little documented, because there is no easy way to collect information from around the world. To address this, the scientists used information from an app that brings together views from places around the world.
This data can be used to collect data on "macro-eye magnitude," which measures the minimum brightness an object in the sky must have if it is to be seen.
These measurements indicate that the sky's brightness has increased by 9.6% each year. Previous estimates collected from satellites indicated that the brightness was only increasing by 2%.
Satellites have been used to estimate the extent of the problem, although no instrument that observes the entire Earth can explain the ways in which humans see the sky.
They are also less likely to see light that comes out horizontally, such as from windows, but these sources contribute significantly to light pollution as seen by people on the ground.
It is noteworthy that this is not the first study to reveal the effect of light pollution on our ability to see the night sky. In 2016, scientists found that the Milky Way is no longer visible to a third of humanity.
In their conclusion, the researchers indicated the importance of the role of scientists and citizens in providing such data. They also urge the use of data by policy makers, noting that current attempts to reduce light pollution do not prevent the problem from getting worse.
Source: websites