Now more than ever, mankind grapples with all kinds of pollution. This includes light pollution, which especially affects you if you’re into astrophotography and amateur astronomy. Because of it, astrophotographers need to consult light pollution maps and head away from big cities in order to get access to completely dark night skies. Otherwise, it can be essentially impossible to get great astro photos that aren’t washed out by city lights.
In his video above, however, Canada-based Trevor Jones of AstroBackyard hopes to raise awareness about the light pollution problem. It doesn’t and shouldn’t only concern astrophotographers like himself, but everyone who wants and deserves to enjoy the beauty of the night sky. To drive his point across, he also shared some photos showing the striking difference in astrophotography taken in all levels of the Bortle Scale. This nine-level scale helps observers and astrophotographers judge the true darkness of the night sky at a given location.
His call for action actually coincides with the International Dark Sky Week happening right now, from April 5–12, 2021. So, you can take this as an opportunity to point your cameras up and celebrate the beauty of dark skies. If you manage to shoot in a Bortle Class 1 location — or that with an excellent dark sky — consider yourself lucky!
Make sure to join the Photofocus Community today if you haven’t yet, and share your beautiful astrophotography with us!
