Ciel sombre - Allumez les lumieres
			
		
		
		
			Have you ever experienced a really dark night sky?
One common and amazing feature is the glowing band of our 
Milky Way galaxy stretching from horizon to horizon. 
If you live in or near a big city, though, you might not know this 
because city lights reflecting off the 
Earth's atmosphere could only 
allow you to see the Moon and a few stars.
Today, however, being 
UNESCO's 
International Day of Light, the 
International Astronomical Union is asking people to 
Turn on the Night by trying to better understand, 
and in the future better reduce, 
light pollution.
You can practice even now by going to the main 
APOD website at NASA 
and hovering your cursor over the 
Before image.
The 
After 
picture that comes up is a panorama of four exposures 
taken with the same camera and from the same location, showing what 
happened recently in 
China when people in 
Kaihua County 
decided to turn down many of their lights. 
Visible in the 
Before picture 
are the stars Sirius (left of center) and Betelgeuse, while visible in the 
After picture 
are thousands of stars with the arching band of our Milky Way Galaxy.
Humanity has lived for millennia under a 
dark night sky, 
and connecting to it has 
importance for both natural and cultural heritage.