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The loss of dark skies is so painful, astronomers coined a new term for it (www.space.com)

submitted 1 year ago by FlyingSquid@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

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Given the harmful effects of light pollution, a pair of astronomers has coined a new term to help focus efforts to combat it. Their term, as reported in a brief paper in the preprint database arXiv and a letter to the journal Science, is "noctalgia." In general, it means "sky grief," and it captures the collective pain we are experiencing as we continue to lose access to the night sky.

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[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Only in the most remote deserts, wilderness areas and oceans can you find a sky as dark as our ancestors knew them.

[–] cheese_greater@lemmy.world -3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

People need to stop getting hung up on the idea that it will never be as good, like ok, what can you do about it then? Its quite nihilistic if you ask me and I remember it being more than good enough to enchant me when I lived in an area that was relatively absent of this problem when you went out to the backroads

[–] superduperenigma@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think it's quite nihilistic to just accept that there's no going back to a better night sky as if too many lights being kept on a night is an insurmountable problem.

[–] cheese_greater@lemmy.world -3 points 1 year ago

I've reached the same conclusion regarding how pointless the discussion is as long as the tenor of it remains "paradise lost". I've been enchanted by what I've seen in a smaller place in the backroads, people need to get out more.