How can we help prevent pollution and smog so everyone could watch the stars at night?

Question

I've heard that smog and pollution are keeping us from seeing the light the stars are shining to us. How can we help prevent pollution and smog so everyone could watch the stars at night?

Answer 1

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Answer 2

There is more to seeing stars than smog, such as light pollution, just being in close proximity to city lights makes other light sources (stars) less clear and harder to see.

Is smog a part of it? Depends on where you live, but possibly. If you are worried about smog, there are a couple of basic things you can do and encourage neighbors and friends to do. If you own a bike, ride it when you can instead of driving a car. If you don't, ride the bus or take a walk. When you leave a room, turn off the lights. Anything to conserve energy means that much less demand on the power company, which means that much less coal or whatever being used to burn their generators. I could go on, but I'd just sound like a hippie, and your question was about stars, so...

If you really want to see the stars, go away from the city, onto a backroad somewhere where there arn't any street lights or other sources of light pollution, and you'll see everything much more clearly.

Answer 3

While smog and physical pollution certainly prevent one from seeing the night time sky, an even bigger factor is light pollution. This has the same effect as the sun does during the day. The best advice I can give you is find a unpopulated area and set up telescope/ binoculars there. The local woods are a classic stargazing spot. Or deserts work too. Just don't get sand near lenses.

Answer 4

Join the International Dark Sky association. Lobby for building codes that require shielded outdoor lights. It really isn't smog that is the problem. It is bright lights. There is no need for bright lights to be directed anywhere but toward the ground. When that is done, the sky stays darker, there is less glare in your eyes as you walk and drive, and it saves electricity because no unnecessary light is being wasted in the sky, it is all usefully illuminating the ground and objects on the ground. You can tell the difference between good and bad light easily. With good lights, the ground is well lit but you don't even notice the source of the light. Bad lighting is a bright glaring light on a pole that may or may not light up the ground, but even if it does, you can't see clearly because of the glare in your eyes; like high beams from an oncoming car.

Answer 5

We'd pretty much have to give up cars, most industry, etc., or at least make them non-polluting. Also, we'd have to turn out the lights, because a big reason we can't see them is light pollution. The lights here on Earth drown out the light we could otherwise be seeing from the stars.

Answer 6

We could all walk around in the dark with frigging flashlights or hooded lanterns.

Around here the ruling PC crowd is lobbying to get most of the streetlights turned off so they can see the stars better. They haven't yet faced the fact that it is dark out at night and that is what lights were invented for.

Answer 7

We could shut down global production of all consumer goods. We could eliminate all combustion engines. We could disconnect the electrical grid to darken the planet. These are a few completely unbelievable ways of stopping pollution and darkening the sky so we can see the stars.
I suggest going to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and Wilderness in northern Minnesota. Nothing for hundreds of miles. Clear, crisp nights allow for fantastic star gazing, camping, and wildlife viewing.

Answer 8

Mankind needs to get over its addiction to convenience. Start driving together to utilise energy economically can be one example. I know people that will drive 50 meters to a convenience store instead of walking. And remember the light surrounding city and suburban areas also has a big effect on our inability to see the stars clearly.

Answer 9

There are allot of ways.

One major thing is politics. The oil companies do not want our cars to be going at 200 miles to the Gallon, nor burning Natural gas.

Research Political Science, and Creation Science, find some answers.

Answer 10

the only pollution that matters for star viewing is light pollution

Answer 11

Must study the following : Observatuions of Perseids