Stargazers face star-less future

THERE’S something awe-inspiring in looking at the night sky and seeing distant stars twinkling back at you.

The human eye should be able to see several thousand stars on a clear night.

But in bad news for stargazers, increasing light pollution is dulling the spectacular sight, according to a study.

Observations of the night sky over the past 12 years reveal the change in visibility is equivalent to a .6 per cent increase in sky brightness per year.

The authors said a child born in an area where 250 stars were visible would likely see fewer than 100 stars in the same location 18 years later.

Researchers evaluated 51,351 citizen scientist observations of stars seen with the naked eye between 2011 and 2022.

According to the findings, the night sky has increased in brightness from artificial light by roughly 7 to 10 per cent per year.

The research was done by US scientists and is published in the journal Science.