Before the 1990s, when we looked up at the night sky on a clear night, we could not only see countless shining stars and meteors flying by in an instant, but also see a faint scarf-like band of light across the whole sky, like a big river in the sky, that is, the Milky Way. There are many poems and stories about the Milky Way in ancient China.
The stars and the milky way.
Decades ago, when people looked up at the stars and the Milky Way, they didn't think that they needed to be far away from home or even farther and more desolate areas to get this experience. Looking at the stars and the Milky Way has become a luxury.
The reasons for all this mainly come from two aspects, air pollution (smog) and light pollution, both of which are accompanied by the continuous improvement of human life and technology.
Air pollution (smog)
Although smog weather has existed since ancient times, it has little impact. In recent decades, the rapid industrialization and urbanization have led to the rapid consumption of energy, the high concentration of population and the destruction of the ecological environment, resulting in more and more haze weather, which not only affects our health, but also blocks the starry sky and the Milky Way that we can look up at at night since childhood.
Light pollution is one of the most common forms of environmental change. In most countries, the city lights look spectacular at night, and the ubiquitous artificial light will produce luminous fog, which will drown the stars and constellations in the night sky. But they hide a better light show-stars and galaxies.
Relevant information mentioned that in the area where you can see the Milky Way when you look up, you need to be in an almost primitive sky, or the background light only accounts for less than 1% of the total brightness of the sky. More than 80% of the earth's land area and 90% of the population live under the sky covered with artificial light, so that the Milky Way is almost invisible.
Now human beings have realized the seriousness of these problems and gradually solved them through legislation. I believe that in a few decades, we will be able to see long-lost stars and galaxies around the city.