I'm 28 years old. My dying wish is to see a clear night sky with no light pollution. I want to see what our ancestors saw every night of their lives. I want to see the arm of the milky way. I want to see space in its entirety.
I'm 28 years old and will probably never get to see any of that in my lifetime. It's not just a problem future generations have to deal with but current and former.
Take a hiking trip to some remote area on a day with good weather conditions. Bring some warm cloth as these days usually come with cold nights.
It's definitely not impossible to see a night-sky like that. I have seen it multiple times in my life. But yeah, it requires some preparation and travelling these days.
Many cities are putting in street lamps that reduce light pollution so I don't think this will be true. They may have issues taking good photos of celestial objects if we keep putting up LEO satellite constellations like StarLink though.
The majority of children born today are born in densely populated - and highly polluted - cities where they can't see the stars, and are unlikely to ever have enough disposable income to travel for pleasure. The thesis holds.
no, it does not. for most people that good observation area is in a range of 200-300 km, that can be walked on your feet, if you can't afford public transport. It is definitely not as convenient as being able to observe from your own backyard, but hardly impossible.
long story short, majority of children born today will be able to see the milky day, that is assuming they will be interested in seeing it.
yes, not out of their balcony in the center of 10m megapolis, they will have to take a bus somewhere. poor children living in the middle of rural nowhere may be poor, but "lucky" enough to actually see it from their backyard. i assume there is quite good linear dependence where the really poor people likely don't have that much light pollution around them and those who do can afford a bus ticket.
that may indeed not be applicable to every person in the world, but the title of this post is making it sound way more dramatic than it actually is.
Your experience reminds me of the time I was sailing on the Java Sea. On deck at night, lit by starlight, I could look up and see the Milky Way from horizon to horizon. It was the closest I've ever come to having a transcendent religious experience, like I was in direct connection with the infinite.
Humanity robbed itself of a true treasure if you ask me.
Couldn't agree more. It should be mandatory for all humans to see it at least once.
We are in it, at the edge, so any face on views where you can see the spiral are artists' impressions, but you can see it side on, more so in the southern hemisphere without light pollution, as a line of stars across the sky.
