Twinkle, twinkle little star, How I wonder ‘ where' you are?
It is perhaps time to rewrite this popular nursery rhyme as all kinds of pollution in the city has been depriving denizens the opportunity of catching sight of stars.
While vehicular and industrial emissions hang in the atmosphere and create a blanket of haze, light pollution or what is also referred to as ‘sky glow' has become a major hurdle in the visual contact with celestial bodies. “Blame it on light pollution,” quips B.G. Siddharth, Director-General, B.M. Birla Science Centre. “There are a lot of suspended particulates in the atmosphere and the artificial light gets dispersed from them and acts as a haze,” he explains.
Excessive artificial light escaping upward and getting scattered in the sky obscures the stars. High street and external illumination along with light dispersing from the interiors are termed culprits in affecting what is seen as mankind's first fascination with nature - stargazing.
Such is the bright illumination enveloping the city that the dark sky is fast turning into a concept of past. “These days, one can see only the brighter stars, those high in the sky either very late in the night or early up,” says Dr. Siddharth.
“We teach children about countless stars in the sky but if they ask, we cannot show even a few to them,” points out K.S. Raghunandan Kumar, Secretary, Planetary Society India.
Also, there have been apprehensions that if unchecked, the sky glow could reduce the contrast in the night sky to a point where even sighting the brighter stars might not be possible.
Meteor showers
Mr. Kumar says that during meteor showers such as Geminids, there are around 120 shooting stars but best efforts in the city could help one spot a few. “And it is the same city where around 7 lakh stars were said to have been spotted at Nizamia Observatory at Ameerpet in the year 1908,” he says.
Star enthusiasts these days will have to drive out for at least 100 km for a good sighting. “Go out of the city and there, things change and help you in enjoying a good sight of skies and stars,” recommends Dr. Siddarth.
