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6 ASTRONOMY • SEPTEMBER 2017

BY DAVID J. EICHER

FROM THE EDITOR

Editor David J. Eicher

Art Director LuAnn Williams Belter

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ast year an inter-

national team of

astronomers led by

Fabio Falchi published

a stunning new report

on the extent of light pollu-

tion on Earth. Titled “The

New World Atlas of Artificial

Night Sky Brightness,” the

report was published in

Science Advances.

The bottom line for those

who care about the night sky

is grave: Some 80 percent

of the globe is adversely

affected by nighttime light

pollution, and the problem

in North America is growing

worse by 6 percent each year.

More than 99 percent of

North Americans and

Europeans do not see a dark

night sky.

By percentage of popula-

tion, Singapore is the most

light-polluted country on

Earth, followed by Kuwait,

Qatar, and the United Arab

Emirates. Africa is home to

the top 10 least light-polluted

countries. Disturbingly, fully

one-third of the world’s

population cannot see the

Milky Way.

As I write this, I’ve just

returned from a conference

at Lowell Observatory. On

Mars Hill in Flagstaff,

Arizona, the dark sky beck-

ons from above. One of the

nation’s greatest dark-sky

advocates, Chris Luginbuhl,

is an old friend and a retired

astronomer living in

Flagstaff. Along with another

friend, Lowell Observatory

Director Jeff Hall, Chris has

written a great story about

what communities can do

about light pollution. (See

p. 54.) I urge you to read this

important article and think

about what you can do to

fight the spread of light pol-

lution in your community.

Flagstaff offers a shining

example of the right way to

handle this scourge.

Amateur astronomers

need a dark sky. This isn’t a

hobby you do in your base-

ment. In the continental

United States, the only truly

dark skies remaining are in

the West. The East and

Midwest? You can pretty

much forget it. That’s why a

group is offering a place for

amateur astronomers to go,

called Dark Sky New

Mexico. The site near

Animas, New Mexico, offers

world-class dark skies within

a two- to four-hour drive of

major southwestern cities:

Phoenix and Tucson,

Arizona; El Paso, Texas; and

Albuquerque and Las

Cruces, New Mexico. The

group plans to offer remote

observing and imaging from

this pristine site.

Last spring, Senior Editor

Michael E. Bakich and I

attended the first “America’s

Darkest Sky Star Party” in

Animas, and we offer a story

about the event in this issue.

(See p. 60.) We gave several

talks and discussed amateur

astronomy with attendees

before luxuriating in the

spectacular darkness.

The group will hold its

second star party October

13–14, co-sponsored by the

Albuquerque Astronomical

Society. Michael and I again

will be there to speak and

observe.

If you’ve never spent

much time under a truly

dark sky, I suggest you

attend. It just may change

your life.

Yo u r s t r u l y,

David J. Eicher

Editor

The need

for dark

skies

Follow the Dave’s Universe blog:

http://www.Astronomy.com/davesuniverse

Follow Dave Eicher on Twitter: @deicherstar

A map of the light pollution in North America reveals

a bleak outlook for night skies in the eastern half

of the United States. The remaining outstanding skies

are all out west. SCIENCE/SCIENCE ADVANCES/AMER IC AN

ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE

L