Are we afraid of the dark, or just forgetting it?

Caitlin Robinson - astronomy. (2026). Pin.it. https://pin.it/6srfpwFg0, Accessed 23rd January, 2026

About 200 years ago many astronomers started to confirm that our sky wasn’tthe same anymore. Ever since the first artificial lamp was turned on, night appeared much dimmer. It was just as if it lost its whole personality. Some of the constellations became harder to spot. That’s why people started to be more and more concerned about the pollution which light gave to our night sky.

Why does the light pollute our sky?

In fact, not every kind of light gives us a pollution effect. Our ancestors also used loads of it, but their main source of light was fire. As you may know, the colour of the light is responsible for the length of its waves and intensity of spreading. The blue one, which we use daily scatters more - it doesn’t spread evenly; instead it chaotically dims everything. On the other hand, the red one doesn’t scatter a lot so we can clearly see what's up there. It’s also the designing of today’s lamps that matters. Some of them don’t have their ups covered , which helps the blue light to scatter even more. Luckily, the LED lights, which are popular lately, are amazing to prevent us from light pollution.

Why is light pollution sobad?

It's not only astronomers who feel the effects of light pollution. It also affects us, ordinary people whose brains are changing. We use dark skies for detecting nighttime. When it becomes brighter, we don’t have a sure signal to rest. Light pollution is disturbing even animals which can lose migration track wandering in city lights. These are only a few reasons all kinds of species are affected by the excess of bright lamps. In a few years, the effects may be irreversible but the problem isn’t as complicated as we may think. It’s easy to solve by making people aware that quality is always better than quantity.

CREDITS

Smethurst, Becky. Cosmos: Explore the wonders of the universe. DK. 2024

“Wave Behaviors - NASA Science” NASA, 23, Aug. 2023, https://science.nasa.gov/ems/03_behaviors/ Accessed 7, Jan. 2026