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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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[-] DarkThoughts@kbin.social 9 points 1 year ago

I’m actually a bit nervous under the bright lights!

Yeah, because everything outside the light cone will be pitch black to you. I think that's another benefit of those old orange lights. They don't cause your eyes to adjust, so you can still see well how the surroundings look like.

[-] shalafi@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I walk in the woods behind the neighborhood at night. Without a flashlight, I can see the sandy trail and be aware. With a light, all I can see is what's right in front of me.

this post was submitted on 19 Sep 2023

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