Don't Light Up My Night I remember watching the stars with my mother when I was a child. He pointed to the Milky Way and a number of constellations. He told me, “there are too many stars to count!” Now, 50 years later, when I go outside and look up, I see only a few identifiable constellations, no Milky Way, and I dare say there were so few stars that if I took a little time, I could count them all. . Are there really fewer stars in the sky? At all. The stars are up there, they simply can no longer be seen with the naked eye from the vast majority of densely populated vantage points. The culprit, I learned, is called “Light Pollution.” According to the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), light pollution is “the unnatural luminescence created by a combination of urban sky glow, glare, and light trespass” (Petersen). This means that artificial lighting at night has created a bright halo, or “glow,” over urban and some rural areas, eliminating the natural state of total darkness. “Glare” refers to horizontal light shining directly into your eyes. “Light transmission” involves the leakage of unwanted artificial light onto and into properties (from floodlights, security lights, street lights) that would otherwise be dark (IDA). Astronomers were the first to notice this problem 30 years ago, when they became frustrated that the light from the sky was beginning to affect their ability to see the stars (Bower). Since Thomas Edison's invention of the incandescent light bulb in 1879, people have illuminated the night in ever-increasing ways and intensities. As a result of this man-made illumination, in her article, Our Vanishing Night, Verlyn Klinkenborg shares: "In most cities, the sky appears as if......in the center of the paper...... .International Dark - Sky Association. 2011. Web. 22 November 2011. Milbourn, Todd. “Truck Driver Fears His Star Power Is in Danger.” Sacramento Web.2 November 2011. Navara, K.J. and Nelson, R.J. “The Dark Side of Nightlight: Physiological, Epidemiological, and Ecological Consequences.” Journal of Pineal Research, 2007: 43(215-224). Wiley Online Library. November 28, 2011. Petersen, Aili. “NIGHT LIGHTS.” Network. November 2, 2011. Spivey, Angela. “Nightlight and breast cancer risk around the world.” Environmental HealthPerspectives, 118. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, 2010: A525(1).Web. November 14th. 2011.