Star light, star bright,
The first star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight..


The night sky is one of the wonders of the world. Mankind has studied the stars for thousands of years. We used to think the stars affected our lives.  People said the stars predicted the birth of kings, disaster and victory. Now we look at the stars for their beauty alone. But star-gazing is fading out in many parts of the world today.

When the sky reflects light from the ground, the stars simply fade away. This is called "light pollution". Electric lights from cities, roads and cars create light pollution. Sky glow and sky glare are the most common sorts of light pollution. Sky glow happens when the air reflects light to turn the sky orange or pink. Sky glare happens when very bright lights dazzle the eye. This happens with flood lights at airports, sports fields or factories.

Astronomers worry about the effect of light pollution on the world. More and more people want to protect the night sky.  Sky glow and sky glare are common in cities. Two out of three people in the world today can no longer see the Milky Way. North of the Equator, most people can see only 5 of the 12 great constellations from a city street. And light pollution is increasing as cities grow.