This time-lapse video of the Milky Way is absolutely stunning...
http://www.ouramazingplanet.com/sorgjerd-video-the-mountain-teide-1405/
...but I can't help noticing the yellow-orange glow on the horizon in nearly every nighttime shot. At first, I thought it was just the sunset, but the glow doesn't change like the stars do as the Earth passes beneath them, and like a sunset does as it gets later in the evening. That glow that obscures everything close to the horizon must be sky glow, or light pollution.
The clouds of the Milky Way are clearly visible, so the light pollution must not be too bad in the Canary Islands, Africa, where the video was taken. But it's still there, and in many places of the world, it's much worse. In the video, it mars the horizon with an ugly yellow glow throughout the night and ruins the peace that comes from watching stars go by overhead. Here in LA, it completely shrouds the view of the cosmos.
One of my least favorite things about living in LA (other than lack of snow) is being unable to see any stars even on a very clear night. Looking up at the stars was always a source of enjoyment and wonder for me, but looking up and seeing nothing but dark gray with an orange tint after a gorgeous clear day is just sad. I can't help wondering how people living without a view of the stars can keep their lives in perspective. I start feeling so lost when I can't look up and see the Earth's place in the universe.
Light pollution is, in my opinion, the worst consequence of large cities. There are all sorts of new streetlights that keep light from escaping upward, but those in charge of such things don't seem to care very much about a view of the stars. The stars bring such an immense inner peace that I really think people of all types could benefit from being able to see them now and then, and know that their hectic lives are not so important in the face of the immovable stars (of course, they're not immovable at all, but to the casual observer, they are).
Thank goodness for astronomy observatories.
I love your writing, Cassi! "I can't help wondering how people living without a view of the stars can keep their lives in perspective. I start feeling so lost when I can't look up and see the Earth's place in the universe." And "in the face of the immovable stars." You should consider cobbling together some of your blog entries (like this one and the Aurora Borealis one - I have yet to read the ones after this) to make a podcast for 365 Days of Astronomy (http://365daysofastronomy.org/). I'm working on one this weekend - it'll be up on Thursday!
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