The Night Sky

I finished reading the Winter Edition of Lapham's Quarterly called Night.  It was an interesting read, not because of the information that I gained, but because of the seemingly all or nothing aspects of the essays and articles about the Night.  All or nothing from the standpoint of fearing the darkness and uncertainty that we can feel with an absence of light, or reveling in the quiet and stillness that night time can provide in contrast to the hectic lifestyle which encompasses our every waking second.

Perhaps not unexpected, there were more than a few commentaries about the pleasures of the night hours by people one might label as artistic, and/or non-conforming.  Society has long looked down its collective noses at those who labor at night whether in nefarious or service occupations.  The daylight people have long held those who find the hours between standard sleep time and dawn an interesting or productive time as "different" at best, too be avoided or scorned at worst.  As I read the efforts of people so labeled in their time or today, I sometimes wondered if it was us daylight people who should be looked at askance, as there appeared to be so much less judgement, so much more living, reflected in the lines of those who preferred the night over the day.

Of course, the advent of the gas light also marked a significant shift in the opinions of the night seekers and those who preferred sleep.  In many communities, the artificial lights which began to appear on houses, storefronts, and in the streets, doubled down on the perception by those who stayed indoors after dark about those who ventured out and about.  Even people, especially the young women, who began working in the factories and offices that were now open due to the availability of light, still found themselves the focus of side chatter and innuendo for their presence at this time, as there was still such a strong association between those who worked at night and those who robbed, stole or walked the streets.

It is certainly hard to imagine the depth of the blackness of a moonless night in today's world of abundant electric streetlights, 24/7 shopping centers, and obscenely lit car dealerships.   Still, my brief experience with life outdoors between the hours of 3 AM and dawn, was very pleasant, despite the lack of sleep and occasional frigid mornings.  During the eighteen months in which I delivered newspapers just 5 or so years ago, I was often struck with the difference in the neighborhoods of my town as compared to those same areas in the light of day.  The moon, if in the right phase, seemed so much brighter, the scent of the fields so much stronger, the streets generally devoid of other cars, but still full of the life of nature whether it be deer, fox, rabbit, groundhog, bird or even turkey.  There are most likely thousands of people living in my small town who have no idea of the number and variety of animals that walk across their lawns and over their roads when they sleep.

Sadly, while the prevalence of artificial light has enabled all sorts of productive activity to prosper, it has also significantly reduced our ability to see the stars in the night sky.  A few months ago, I saw a TV show which depicted the various land masses at night, from above.  Naturally, much of the developed work was bathed in light, while parts of the African continent, Antarctica, the Arctic, etc was dark.  Also, which was the point of the show, was much of North Korea.  So again, light is good, dark is bad.  And certainly, I would prefer to live in a place where we have the choice to light a lamp, work a night shift, or drive home safely.  But oh, the views of the night sky that we are missing!  (Perhaps Kim
Jung-un might want to consider a way to make his dark country a tourist hot spot for night sky viewing!)

In "The Fading Stars: A Constellation" by Holly Haworth, one of the end-of-the-edition essays within Night, Haworth touches on a number of topics related to our perception of the night sky.  She establishes the creation of the telescope in the early 17th century as the beginning of our organized attempts to order the night sky.  I say organized, because throughout history, various cultures had contemplated the night sky, named the stars (before they were called stars), saw pictures in their arrangements.  But now that European Man was on the job, new names were established, while the older ones were ridiculed and pushed aside. 

Oddly, when Galileo created his own "spyglass" and began investigating the sky with a mathematician's eye, he realized that the science of the night sky was all wrong.  His publication of Starry Messenger inspired other men of numbers and science to look upward, eventually resulting in a number of theories at odds with the views of the Catholic Church which espoused scientific views based on religion, and the Church's belief that to properly lead its flock, the Earth must be the center of the solar system.  Perhaps it was just cosmic revenge that one of the great thinkers of all time was imprisoned in his own home for the last decade of his life, punishment for being born just a few decades too early, just as the work all those "ancients" who had come to their own conclusions without the aid of a 'far seeking" device, had their work dismissed by those wielding their new tool.

In some areas, with the prevalence of light pollution, one might say that our perception of the night sky has come full circle.   New Mexico, the self named Land of Enchantment, is one of the many places where laws designed to push back against light pollution, have gained a foothold.  In 1999 New Mexico enacted The Night Sky Protection Act.  Its purpose is to "regulate outdoor night lighting fixtures to preserve and enhance the state’s dark sky while promoting safety, conserving energy and preserving the environment for astronomy." 

Believe it or not, it is possible to properly light one's property without sending your light into the night sky or onto the neighbor's yard.  Amazingly, these lights generally save energy in addition to directing the artificial light where it needs to be.  It is the best of both worlds, yet the regulations which foster such lights, are actively fought by various industries, while being scoffed at by small government advocates and people who believe in "freedom" but have less concern for responsibility.

When I was a young adult, my friends and I were occasionally invited to a cabin owned by the parents of one of our group.  The cabin was in upstate Pennsylvania.  Your typical one traffic light town in rural America.  The cabin itself was at the top of a dirt road up the side of a mountain.  Outdoors latrine.  An extra-large table for games and meals plus a few bedrooms downstairs where the adults slept.  An upstairs the length of the cabin with numerous cots for the kids.  At night, in the clearing in the front of the cabin, if you looked up at the sky, it could make you dizzy with the number and beauty of the stars above.  I don't believe I have seen such a Night Sky since and I wonder if my children have seen anything like it in their lives.  Worse, I wonder if they even know what they are missing.

When asked why it matters if we can see the stars at night, an advocate for protecting the Night Sky responded that it was possible that while not seeing the beauty of a star-filled sky in itself, is a shame, and that while not even knowing that such beauty existed is a travesty, it might also be possible that without the inspiration of the night sky, humanity might lose one more reason not to explore our universe.  And, by losing that desire, have less motivation to understand our place in that universe.