Citizen scientists report global rapid reductions in the visibility of stars

Be careful thought, since some people might get overwhelmed by this feeling of realizing your place in the universe. If I remember correctly there are a couple of related phobias, Astrophobia (fear of space) and Apeirophobia (fear of infinity).

Something like the Total Perspective Vortex: https://hitchhikers.fandom.com/wiki/Total_Perspective_Vortex

You can have that as desktop background, with dynamically moving night/day terminator, and optionally real clouds and storm systems overimposed, btw :-)

With programs like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xplanet , but others too.

The 130p gives approximately 3.5x the light your eye normally sees and it’s quite portable. It has been a great intro to astronomy for me.

one thing to remember when buying gear is to only go as big as you can carry/assemble by yourself. getting something that requires 2 people to lift/carry means you can't use it unless you can convince someone to go along with you, we let's face it, it's definitely a hobby that leans towards the soloist. for someone like you that can do it from home without having to travel every. single. time. might be a bit less of an issue. just general advice for others that might come along

the only regret i have in buying my gear is that i'm at least 4 hours to a class 2 site, and i no longer have a car of any type let alone one that fits all of my gear plus camping equipment.

(I don't think I need to attribute this to this readership, but in case I do, it's by Emerson. And if you didn't know that, I strongly recommend googling Nightfall.)

I grew up in Florida and was many times 100 miles off shore at night. I was never astounded by the night sky until I drove through the middle-of-nowhere in Oregon as an adult.

I'd tell you to come up to norther Marin-- the prohibition on billboards here makes the night sky much darker than over the rest of the bay area. But it's gotten a lot brighter in just the last couple years--- the transition to LED outdoor lighting seems to be doing a tremendous harm.

Two years ago the milky way was naked eye visible at my home on good nights. It doesn't appear to be anymore.

You can still see the orion nebula and its blue h-beta glow with just some binoculars though.

but for bog's sake get a red filter so you don't screw up your night vision!

Of course, global warming can also cause civilization to collapse.

Because if they don't, they're descendents will suffer even more.

I mean, really what you're asking is "why should people care about others?", which feels like a whole branch of philosophy.

Many have been misled and deceived and densensitized and cheated and de-liberated. Yet they will still help each other, and even complete strangers, with nothing visible to gain. Giving a shit makes a difference. That's how I really feel.

There is some suffering in the world right now. And it’s bad in places, there is no question. I don’t know exactly what suffering you’re thinking of or referring to, but if it were true that most people didn’t care at all about humanity being destroyed, then most people wouldn’t even be alive. The thing about humans is that we’re hard-wired to want to live, and because of that we have hope even when suffering is high.

One thing to perhaps consider is that those of us lucky enough to not live in suffering have the opportunity to help others and to reduce suffering. It is going to take some people caring about humanity, and caring about the planet, in order to improve on the very situation you’re talking about. Parent was pretty clear we’re talking about a symptom of a larger problem, and I guess if we were all face to face philosophizing over beers, you might even agree they were talking in large part about the same problem you’re talking about - us not taking care of each other. If nobody cared about this, then how is it going to get any better?? What can you and I do to make it better?

San Diego used to have many of these, apparently because of Palomar. There are a variety of arguments about safety and especially perception of safety that often leads to them being replaced with brighter, non-monochromatic lamps, though, depending on the political clout the telescopes have in the area.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium-vapor_lamp#Light_pollut...

How is that working so far?

Mass incarceration doesn’t seem to be working well so far. Maybe it would be time to stop treating the symptoms and try a different approach?

Also, people generally do crime because of lack of opportunity or options, which is why many countries treat the criminal justice system as an opportunity to rehabilitate people.

We have one of the most punitive criminal justice systems in the world and the highest incarceration rate of any country. Imagine if we were able to spend all that money on helping to lift struggling people, instead of punishing them.

They'd be productive, contributing members of society, instead of a huge drain on society. Keeping people in prison is very expensive.

Erm, no. If you trained a bit, and it is not pitch black (which it never is, in the cities) you can move and act very well without light. Also there is nightvision, which got quite cheap.

What works well and is a good compromise to protect from thieves and co. is light activated by motion detectors.

But also all lights are not equal. All lights are not equal for safety and all lights are not equal for light pollution.

Light pollution could be vastly reduced without diminishing needed lighting if the light temperature is warmer and if proper fixtures ensure the light is directed only where needed instead of half of it going directly at my bedroom window like my last couple apartments have done, among other undesired locations.

"A dog. Well-lit exterior. Nosy neighbors. A car always parked in the driveway. Lights on in the house. Anything that would normally lead someone to believe that there is someone home."

It should also be noted that outdoor security lighting is a different beast from general purpose or decorative lighting. Most homes have very patchy exterior lighting, with either plenty of glare or plenty of shadows. If it is known the house isn't occupied, poor lighting will do little to prevent someone from crawling in a basement window then walking out the front door.

Wild animals large enough to trigger them are way too common.

Dark sky-certified lights are suggested but not required. With all that I’m still in a Bortle 5 zone, according to that map :(

There’s a cannabis greenhouse elsewhere in my region that creates a pillar of white light. It’s a completely surreal scene. Also pretty awful light pollution.

Such as, gee I dunno, a change in the nature of peoples' light exposure, like spending more time inside and more time staring at a screen every year? No way that could possibly throw off peoples' subjective feeling of how bright the sky is, right? I'm sure there definitely hasn't been any other types of changes to human vision over time, like an increase in myopia over time. There also definitely hasn't been an increase in photophobia over time due to, among other factors, changing demographics resulting in older people making up a larger percentage of respondents, no siree.