The New World Atlas of Artificial Sky Brightness
Explanation:
How far are you from a naturally
dark night sky?
In increasing steps, this world map
(medium |
large)
shows the effect of
artificial night sky brightness on the
visual appearance of the night sky.
The brightness was modeled using high resolution
satellite data
and fit to thousands of night sky brightness measurements
in
recent work.
Color-coded levels are compared to the natural
sky brightness level for your location.
For example, artificial sky brightness levels in yellow alter the
natural appearance of the night sky.
In red they
hide the Milky Way in an
artificial luminous fog.
The results indicate that the historically common appearance of
our galaxy at night is now
lost for more than one-third of humanity.
That includes 60% of Europeans and almost 80% of North Americans, along
with inhabitants of other densely
populated,
light-polluted regions
of planet Earth.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
