Lights Out: Recovering Our Night Sky

Who needs the dark? Everyone! Including you! 

Since humans first looked up, the night sky has been the backdrop to our lives. It has inspired our stories, directed agricultural practices, guided our navigations, and served as a window into the universe. This deep, enduring connection is worth protecting. 

“Since the dawn of humanity, we have been able to look up at the night sky and reflect on the wonder and mysteries of the world, a powerful experience that many diverse cultures have celebrated and held sacred,” said Stephen Loring, co-curator of the exhibition and archaeologist with the museum’s Arctic Studies Center.

Around the world and through time, the blanket of stars overhead has featured prominently in our stories and artwork, and structured our knowledge and beliefs.  

Light is useful and often necessary for a wide range of activities after the sun goes down. But too much light, in the wrong place, or of the wrong quality becomes light pollution.

Transcript (pdf)

Many species rely on external light cues (cycles of sunlight, moonlight, and starlight) to time their sleeping, eating, mating, migrating, and even turning specific genes off and on.   

Light pollution affects the behavior of wildlife, decreases our bodies’ production of melatonin (which helps us sleep), and brightens the night sky—blocking our view of the stars.  

More than 80% of people worldwide live under some degree of light polluted skies, and around a third of the world’s population can no longer see the Milky Way. In North America, that figure is close to 80%.

Yet there is hope—there are simple things we can do to reclaim the stars.