amyh21•1mo agoMost Upvoted

Just hit 500 photos of the Milky Way from my backyard and it finally hit me how much light pollution has crept in.

I went back and looked at the first ones from 3 years ago and the stars are way fainter now even though I use the same settings, so has anyone else noticed their night sky getting worse over time?

3 comments

3 Comments

xena_kim1mo ago

Man that really sucks. 500 pics is serious dedication and it stinks that you can see the difference so clearly. I live out in a rural area and even here I swear the sky has gotten more washed out over the last few years. Not as bad as in town I bet but still not as clear as when I was a kid. I remember laying on the grass looking up and seeing the Milky Way like a bright river. Now it's more like a dull smudge if I can even see it at all. Makes you wonder what the next generation is even gonna have to look at living in the suburbs.

uma_webb281mo agoTop Commenter

Wait, 500 photos of the Milky Way? That's wild dedication, but the light pollution creeping in like that is honestly terrifying. Have to wonder what the view will look like in another 3 years if nobody does something about it. Sure makes those early photos feel like a special time capsule now.

betty_white391mo ago

My dad took a photo from our backyard in 1998 and compared it to one I took last year from the exact same spot and the difference is heartbreaking lol. The 1998 one has this vivid dusty band of stars cutting across the pitch black sky, and my 2023 one looks like someone smeared a dirty thumbprint over a grayish glow. It's not just the Milky Way either, I can barely see Orion's belt with the naked eye now and that used to be the easiest thing to spot. Really makes you feel like we're slowly losing something beautiful for good.