Replicate your night sky with these great interactive tools!
But it's a different story when you look at light pollution per person: Australia has one of the highest rates among G20 countries, surpassing the US, Russia, Japan, the UK, and France.
"Despite the majority land mass of Australia being able to see the Milky Way, the overwhelming majority of people have light pollution," Dr Tucker said.
This means a large proportion of Australians probably can't see the Milky Way from their home.
In short:
Most people in the world live under light-polluted skies with many unable to see the Milky Way at night.
Use interactives in this story to see how where you live affects your view of the night sky, and how adapting our lighting can reduce light pollution and improve your night sky view.
What's next? The ABC is exploring the night sky and light pollution for National Science Week (August 10 –18) so watch out for more stories.
Read the full article by Kylie Andrews ABC Science
How does light at night impact the night sky?
credit to 'Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)
Do you want your council to take action to reduce light pollution? Add your voice to our dark sky survey!
Interactive notes and credits: Both interactives are based on the Bortle scale, as well as results from Dr Tucker's experiments in Canberra. The lighting change interactive is based on a hypothetical suburban area with a Bortle scale level of 7 with light pollution sources: street lights (50 per cent); house lights (40 per cent); sport lights (10 per cent). Solutions to light pollution: changing street lights to LED (50 per cent reduction in light pollution from that source); dimming street lights to 70 per cent (15 per cent reduction); changing sport lights from cool to warm LEDs (15 per cent reduction); shielding outside lights (50 per cent reduction).
Concept and production: Kylie Andrews; Development: Andrew Hystek-Dunk, Matthew Heffernan; Production: Chloe Brice; Expert advice: Dr Brad Tucker.
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