Dutch postimpressionist painter Vincent van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo in 1888, “For myself, I declare I don’t know anything about [death]. But the sight of the stars always makes me dream.” Indeed, understanding the cosmos and our place in it has been the dream of many humans over countless generations. But the mere sight of stars at night is now impossible for many people because of light pollution. Exquisitely sensitive detectors of light, especially at both radio and optical wavelengths, are threatened by anthropogenic pollution of the electromagnetic spectrum. And as humanity establishes a more extensive presence in space, those threats now come from both above and below.
Confronting the problem requires a more systemic approach than has historically been taken. The present and future of astronomical discovery depends on preserving what has come to be called the dark and quiet sky, where “dark” refers to an absence of visible light pollution and “quiet” refers to a lack of radio interference. The preservation movement pursues reduction of pollution sources both on the ground and in space and across the electromagnetic spectrum.
The problem is not limited to astronomical observation, but also negatively impacts biological organisms.
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