Neil deGrasse Tyson Explains Light Pollution

What is going on with light pollution? On this explainer, Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice discuss something you don’t always think about, but worries astronomers everywhere: light pollution.

What do you lose with increased light pollution? We explore the International Dark-Sky Association and the work they do. What other types of pollution exist? Find out about radio pollution and satellite pollution. Is there a way to delete satellites form the view of telescopes? How do we create a long term solution for maintaining seeing conditions from Earth?

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Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up!

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[StarTalk]

How does the night sky look from your location?

[PokemonProfessorNebula]

Can we just thank these two for all the knowledge they share, and inspire us to seek knowledge ourselves

[bullettube]

I grew up in the 60s and remember when the pollution in some cities was so bad you couldn't see the sun. Young people today just don't realize how hard it was for previous generations to get our government to outlaw polluting the air and water of our country. I now live near Lake Ontario and at night I get a glorious view of our sky, but when I look south it's as if the stars were all turned off.

[Qsie]

I love this dynamic of astrophysicist and average science-curious person, it just makes it so much more accessible. Keep it up, you guys, and pass my gratitude to Neil and Chuck!! 😄

[feedingravens]

Here in Germany we have 3 "light reservations", where the few cities that are in the area run down their lighting at night.

[billybegood]

I live in Port Angeles, Washington, about a 30 minute drive to the top of a mountain. I go up there to catch the leonids and perseids and it's really amazing how massive the difference is between what I can see from my home versus what I can see from the top of the mountain.

[Dr.psych]

i am actually finishing my assignment about light pollution and this came at the right time

[fuijika]

Every video bringing awareness about pollution preventing astronomical observations is worth spreading around. There's just too many people that just don't realize and it gets worst every year.

[johnglielmi]

I grew up in the 60's as well and I can remember lying out in my backyard looking skyward and seeing all the stars and shooting stars, even you could see the Orion Nebula and the Andromeda Galaxy without the use of binoculars, it was so dark. now we can only see the brightest stars in the sky. I live in the outer suburbs of Chicago. I genuinely miss our once beautiful night sky.
Thank you for helping to inform the masses off this issue. if we could only bring the children of this generation back in time to see who the sky truly looks I think they wouldn't believe what they were seeing. thier brains would explode trying to process this information.

[niltonchirindza]

Thanks startalk for feeding us with knowledge
I was actually anxious to see this week video 🤗🤗🤗
Thank you for illuminating our minds

[yoihenbath]

I am from Manipur and I just started a thing with my neighbours that we turn off our light at 10 pm on a full moon night just to enjoy the night sky !!!
I love it !!

[azizkurtariciniz]

When I was kid, I was visiting my moms village and there were almost no lighting in there. Sky was so beautiful, I was able to see a lot of stars. I miss that. It's sad that being able to see starts require a lot of effort now.

[eliasseid]

i just want to say guys u made my each day bright keep feeding us with knowledge and don't stop love u from ancient country Ethiopia ❣

[Lanhoj]

*We definitely need that PSA...* @12:46

[DSOImager]

Astrophotographers are also being impacted by this. The software we use does a pretty decent job of rejecting satellite trails.. but its starting to get more difficult. I've noticed an increase over the past couple of years in my images.

On a positive note.. the hobby is growing.. and that is raising awareness. Also my own town is going through the IDA certification process. :)

[joehebert]

This episode reminds me of the period of time after 9/11 when all flights were grounded in the States and the skies had no contrails. One forgets how beautiful the sky actually is.

[rictube]

I visited Hawaii 15 years ago and learned they have strict light pollution ordinances due to the observatories on Mauna Kea. We did a tour of the observatories and the tour bus drove back the mountain with it's lights off!! This was the first place I had a proper view of the Milky Way.

[jmanj]

The most notable problem with that "seagull study" was that all of their data was self reported, , which, as we all know, can lead to huge discrepancies...

[k.h.]

In the early 2000s there was a major blackout in NYC, and it suddenly became a dark sky site, and people were calling 911 thinking the milky way was a gas attack. They had never seen the milky way or even knew what it was

[slcncr]

I live in Hamburg, Germany`s second biggest city after Berlin.
Haven´t seen a really dark night with all those stars or even the milkyway in many many years. And i really miss it.