Light pollution and wildfire smoke dim the night sky for suburban stargazers

Stargazers in the Philadelphia suburbs say accelerating light pollution and smoke from Canadian wildfires are making it increasingly difficult to see the night sky.

Bob Jorgenson, president of the Bucks-Mont Astronomical Association, said he is lucky to see a few dozen stars on a clear night from his Warminster home, compared to a few hundred a decade ago.

“I miss the dark night sky,” said Jorgenson.

He recalled childhood memories of brilliant night skies in Omaha, Nebraska, and getting lost staring at the Milky Way.

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According to the international citizen science campaign Globe at Night, the average night sky grew nearly 10% brighter each year from 2011 to 2022.

Bill McGeeney, host of the Light Pollution News podcast, said the loss is a cultural disconnection.

“The constellations we see up there all have some kind of historical impact on our societies and they, at one time or another, were very important to earlier societies,” he said. “So you have the shared idea of humanity that’s right above you, and you can’t see it anymore.”

Light pollution results from poor or excessive use of artificial outdoor light, manifesting as glare, light trespass and sky glow, according to the National Parks Service.

Physics professor Tim Lawlor of Penn State Brandywine said the widespread adoption of bright white LED lights, which have a strong blue light component, has increased sky glow over the last 20 years.

“There’s so much less energy waste,” Lawlor said. “But the types that they started using were these bright white LED lights. And these bright white LED lights have a full spectrum of light in them, but they have a really bright blue spike in it. And our sky scatters blue light. That’s why we have a blue sky. And so this blue light has created much more sky glow over the last 20 years.”

He said the brighter artificial light is often pointed improperly, sometimes straight up at the sky.

Dwight Dulsky, a 71-year-old club member from Perkasie, said stargazers now face a new major obstacle beyond clouds and light pollution.

“I don’t remember years ago having to be concerned when we’re scheduling a night out stargazing, having to look at if there’s wildfire smoke in the sky,” Dulsky said.

In 2025 and 2026, smoke from Canadian wildfires drifted into the mid-Atlantic region, triggering Code Red air-quality alerts and creating a persistent haze.

“Sometimes you’ll look at the weather report and it’ll say, ‘Oh, it’s going to be clear tonight,’” Dulsky said. “But then you go outside and … the sky is just all hazy.”

DarkSky International, an advocacy group founded in 1988, recommends five principles for outdoor lighting: use only if necessary, direct only where needed, keep no brighter than needed, use only when needed and use warmer color lights where possible.

The organization has certified 179 Dark Sky Places in the United States, with Cherry Springs State Park in Potter County being the only one in Pennsylvania.

Lawlor works with the West Chester Green Team’s Dark Skies Committee, which helped state Rep. Chris Pielli, a Democrat from Chester County, draft House Bill 969 to cut light pollution on all state and state-funded properties.

The committee hopes to convince Chester County to seek a Dark Sky Place certification. Lawlor pointed to the Lights Out Philly initiative, which asks property owners to turn off lights at night to protect migratory birds, as a local success.

Your Space Hamilton reported in September that wildfire smoke is a growing public health threat, linked to increased deaths and hospital visits.

With files from The Allegheny Front