In a few days, I’ll be in Maine for my annual summer vacation. The state’s wild coastline, rugged landscape, and beautiful little villages provide a visual feast. But there is one other thing that I’m really looking forward to seeing that I never get to see at home in the city—the night sky. In late summer the Milky Way washes across mid-coast Maine’s coal-black sky. It’s a stirring and humbling sight.
Now, I know that the Milky Way hovers over my home in the Washington, D.C., metropolis this time of year as well. But I can’t see it because of all the artificial outdoor lighting in this area. In addition to ambient light created by street lamps, traffic, and the general glow of a vast urban settlement, there are the neighbors’ security lights that seem to be shining into my property (and house) rather than theirs.
I don’t want to do away with outdoor night lighting. It’s important for safety and security, and it lets us welcome guests and enjoy our backyards after the sun goes down. But we may be able to have our lighting and the Milky Way, too. The International Dark-Sky Association, an organization that works to end light pollution and promote quality outdoor lighting standards, offers information about designing energy-efficient, ecologically sound, and neighbor-sensitive night lighting. Its Web site, www.darksky.org, contains links to studies on the health and ecological effects of outdoor lighting, a listing of dark-sky-friendly outdoor light fixtures, and the organization’s newsletter and Dark Sky Specifier Bulletin.
