One of the challenges of light pollution is that the problem is worse than we can detect with our own eyes. The visible spectrum of light that our eyes have evolved to see is only a small portion of the full range of light. Some of the invisible light from outer space that we try to detect — using technology like radio telescopes — is increasingly getting masked by overwhelmingly strong signals from Earth emitted by things like cellphones and car radars . After traveling across the vastness of space for billions of years, this light finally reaches our planet, only to be obscured by modern technology.

Not only do we rely on this invisible light to figure out what’s happening in the universe but we also use it to communicate with space missions throughout the solar system. For example, the Hubble Space Telescope and the coming James Webb Space Telescope rely on radio light to communicate with NASA.

Wavelengths of light that can be used for commercial, government or research purposes are regulated by government and international entities, and a handful of wavelengths of light deemed critical for observing the universe were “protected” for astronomical use before the early 1970s. But astronomers have little influence here, having extremely shallow pockets relative to commercial and government interests, and the wavelengths set aside for astronomy have been slowly losing their protected status.

Moreover, given the advances in astronomy over the past 40 years, the originally protected wavelengths do not include those that have become important today as astrophysical diagnostics. As a result, we astronomers are slowly becoming blind to the universe around us.

In addition, a new source of light pollution is now coming from space itself, courtesy of the multibillion-dollar communications industry. In May, the private aerospace company SpaceX sent 60 internet communications satellites into space as part of a system called Starlink. If and when the full proposed suite of 12,000 Starlink satellites are in their low-level orbits, they will outnumber the visible stars in the night, and the natural evening sky may truly become a thing of the past.

Still, there are some slivers of hope. According to the International Dark Sky Association, thousands of cities have adopted “lighting ordinances” that help to limit light pollution. Good outdoor lighting can be installed in ways that save money and protect the night sky. For example, Tucson has long led the way in reducing light pollution and recently reduced “sky glow” by 7 percent after converting streetlights.

Invisible light pollution, such as radio emission, is harder to control, in part because we don’t see it with our own eyes. But we do have a National Radio Quiet Zone, straddling the Blue Ridge Mountains on the Virginia-West Virginia border, which serves both scientific research and military purposes. In this area, broadcast emissions are strictly limited, which rules out common modern conveniences like cellphones, Wi-Fi and microwave ovens. (However, even in this “quiet” zone, emissions from orbiting satellites still bombard the radio telescopes and contaminate data.)

If you’ve never seen a truly dark night sky, don’t wait too long — it’s getting harder and harder. As we grow accustomed to light pollution, we become less aware of what we are missing. I worry that as each new generation perceives blank, tepid, gray night skies as normal, fewer and fewer people will work to protect our precious view of the universe around us.

Kelsey Johnson is a professor of astronomy at the University of Virginia.

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