The Only Star of Shanghai

The night sky in Shanghai is “gone with the lights”. Photographed in a summer night of this China’s metropolitan at the Pacific coast, the only “star” visible is the bright planet Jupiter. Shanghai is the largest city in China and one of the world’s largest metropolitan areas with over 20 million people. Today most city skies have become virtually empty of stars. Light pollution obscures the stars, interferes with astronomical observatories, and, like any other form of pollution, disrupts ecosystems and has adverse health effects. For most of human history, the night sky was an essential part of our nature. Now most of humanity lives under intersecting domes of reflected, refracted light, of scattering rays from overlit cities. © Tunc Tezel