1. By Jordan Perzik

2.  Jordan Perzik, an astronomy aficionado with a lifelong
commitment to star-gazing, is a member of the
International Dark-Sky Association, a nonprofit
dedicated to preserving the night sky. With the help
of supporters like Jordan Perzik, the organization
works to mitigate the impact of light pollution on
places with natural night skies. Light pollution makes
it difficult for observers to appreciate the night sky
because artificial brightness upsets the dim
conditions necessary to view certain astronomic
features with the naked eye.
Light pollution has contributed to a night sky
unprecedented in the history of human kind.

3.  For instance, just a century ago, no matter where a
person lived, he or she could look up and see a
spectacular arrangement of stars. Now, for many
people, that spectacular image is largely obscured
from light emitted from artificial sources, which
brighten the sky, cause glare, and have other effects
that veil the sky’s natural, historic appearance.
Places, often remote from human settlements, still
exist in dark enough conditions that observers can
view the night sky in its primordial state. However,
many of those places are under threat by encroaching
light pollution, requiring community action to protect
them.