In my 75 years on this planet, I've traveled a total of 165 billion miles. Unbelievable? You have, too — or with luck and good health, you will. Others on Earth have the same chance.

Let's start by counting those 75 voyages around the sun. Any miles we might have accumulated on the surface of our planet is small change in comparison.

Earth's orbital speed averages about 67,000 mph, so in one year the earth travels 584 million miles around the sun. Multiply that distance by your age.

But there's more. The sun is rotating around the center of our galaxy at the amazing speed of 496,000 mph, carrying us along with it. One year adds another 4.35 billion miles to our total. And the Milky Way itself is speeding toward the Andromeda Galaxy, our nearest large neighbor, at about 245,000 mph, or 2.15 billion miles a year. (Don't stock up on provisions quite yet; the collision — or more accurately the blending — of these two galaxies will occur in about 4 billion years.)

All that adds another 160 billion miles to my own total. I didn't feel any movement, of course, and was only occasionally aware of the fact. But altogether I've traveled a lot farther than the Voyager 1 space probe, launched in 1977. Only last year did it leave our solar system, and it's now about 11.7 billion miles from earth. But my travels haven't even brought me close to reaching the distance of our nearest neighbor star, some 26 trillion miles away. So stay tuned ...

Last week was the 50th anniversary of the famous earthrise photograph from lunar orbit, taken by Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders. Coincidentally, last week there was also a rare conjunction of winter solstice with a full moon, which will not occur again until 2094. Did you see the full moon at that time? I did; it was as high in the midnight sky as it ever gets in the northern hemisphere. Can you figure out why? (Hint: it's something to do with the solstice.)

Our distant ancestors had very little understanding of what was going on in the sky, day or night, but they were far more aware of it than we are. Very few people today have any intuitive comprehension of much of what happens in the sky, and sometimes it seems even fewer care.

It's not entirely their fault. Dark nighttime skies are disappearing everywhere on the planet, and many people have never seen the glory of a dark sky where the milky way--the disc of our galaxy--stands out clearly. There's a bustling tourist industry developing in those places where pristine dark skies can still be seen.

So, this is a plea to citizens of Eugene. Turn off unnecessary outdoor lights. Adequately shield downward those that are necessary. Get out of town and see a real dark sky. Find out what you're missing, and cultivate a cosmic perspective. A large number of local amateur astronomers are eager to share their telescopic views with you. Find them at www.eugeneastro.org.

Dan Rinnan, a retired environmental defense attorney, is a member of the Eugene Astronomical Society.