The local newspaper had a headline this week about how bad
light pollution has become east of the Mississippi. Of course, this comes as no surprise to me, being trapped as I am, here in the Chicago area. (It was, however, a real shock to my peace of mind when I moved here about four years ago.) Light pollution limits me to about 3rd magnitude stars on the best of nights and that is a far cry from what I knew out on the prairies of Nebraska during my youth. What has been a surprise, though, is how popular astronomy is in the Chicago area, despite the awful light pollution. Chicago, for a big city, is very astronomy oriented. I sell a lot of
telescopes and
astronomy binoculars to folks like me who do their best to deal with light pollution. I see this a more than job security. To me it is also sign that there are enough us to something about the problem. That is a good New Year's resolution for any astronomer.
