Results: This survey is about our sky at night. We used to be able to see a lot more of what was up there long before we added so much more up there. (Sources Wiki, NASA, and others).
There was an article the other day about planets and other items in space that were potentially visible that week in the night sky above my city. I saw none of them. I lived in Arizona for the winter in 2014 and I was in awe of the things I could see in the night sky there. The difference was/is in the level of different types of pollution. This survey is about what could be seen in the night sky if we can reduce the pollution (and have something good enough to see them with).
1.
1.
The main thing that prevents us from seeing the night sky clearly is light pollution. Which of these items prevent you from seeing anything but a large object like the moon at night where you live?
Upward & Outward Light: Most artificial lights shine outwards and upwards, not just down where needed.
22%
•
400 votes
Sky Glow: This scattered light creates a pervasive brightness, the sky glow, making the background sky much brighter. You may have to drive miles away from where you live to escape it.
22%
•
387 votes
Eye Adaptation: The absence of real darkness also prevents our eyes from fully adapting to the dark, reducing our sensitivity to faint light. TVs, night lights, digital alarm clocks, thin drapes etc. etc. means most of us are never in real darkness.
19%
•
340 votes
The above items produce reduced contrast: the faint pinpricks of light from distant stars can't compete with this making them invisible to us.
15%
•
277 votes
Other (please specify)
5%
•
81 votes
Not Interested.
41%
•
742 votes
| Other Answers | Percentage | Votes |
| 1.62% | 24 | |
| none | 0.47% | 7 |
| clouds | 0.40% | 6 |
| nothing | 0.13% | 2 |
| None of the above | 0.13% | 2 |
| I see a beautiful night sky in the country. | 0.07% | 1 |
| nothing, live in the country | 0.07% | 1 |
| Cloud cover/moisture | 0.07% | 1 |
| Not sure | 0.07% | 1 |
| Vision impairment | 0.07% | 1 |
| fog | 0.07% | 1 |
| Not applicable | 0.07% | 1 |
| OVERCAST SKIES | 0.07% | 1 |
| clouds or weather or otherwise can see | 0.07% | 1 |
| nothing--we can see a lot of stars in the sky where I live | 0.07% | 1 |
| just being cloudy | 0.07% | 1 |
| I usually am not out after dark | 0.07% | 1 |
| trees | 0.07% | 1 |
| live very rural and can see more than the moon | 0.07% | 1 |
| Neighbours mega watt Christmas lights, on 24/7 | 0.07% | 1 |
| Where i live i can see things that i want to when i look up to the night sky, helps to live in the country. | 0.07% | 1 |
| the weather | 0.07% | 1 |
| Dark skies here, live in a rural area | 0.07% | 1 |
| I am lucky enough to be able to see the sky clearly.. | 0.07% | 1 |
| Nothing I can see many stars from my city location | 0.07% | 1 |
| I live in a rural area, so outside security night lights are sometimes a problem | 0.07% | 1 |
| Not much we don't have tons of light pollution | 0.07% | 1 |
| ... | 0.07% | 1 |
| Downward parking lot. | 0.07% | 1 |
| I live in a rural area and thankfully am free of the above | 0.07% | 1 |
| None for me, I live in the mountains in pitch blackness | 0.07% | 1 |
| I have no problems seeing the night skies as I live in a rural area surrounded by fields and farmlands. | 0.07% | 1 |
| Cloud cover | 0.07% | 1 |
| Clouds and rain. | 0.07% | 1 |
| Nothing, as I live in the country and can see the night sky clearly. I don't even have a light in my yard. | 0.07% | 1 |
| I can see the sky very well. | 0.07% | 1 |
| Nothing I live in a rural area | 0.07% | 1 |
| I can see a lot at night | 0.07% | 1 |
| I never really thought about it. | 0.07% | 1 |
| I live in a rural community, no city light, no street lights. it is DARK | 0.07% | 1 |
| I live in a rural area so I can see the stars brightly on a clear night | 0.07% | 1 |
| n/a | 0.07% | 1 |
| i can see clearly | 0.07% | 1 |
| I live in the woods and am surrounded by trees that limit my view of the sky. | 0.07% | 1 |
| Surrounding trees. | 0.07% | 1 |
2.
2.
If I ate my carrots, reduced my overall light exposure, went out into the dark night more often and headed out of town away from city lights etc,. here is what I should be able to see according to NASA and AI searching (and with the assistance of a telescope - a Christmas wish for 2026.) Which of these items would you like to be able to see? (if there are different things you would like to see where you live, please comment).
The International Space Station and other large satellites
23%
•
406 votes
Planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus, Mercury, Uranus, Neptune are often visible depending on the time of year.
35%
•
630 votes
Constellations: Familiar patterns like the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) and Cassiopeia are prominent.
33%
•
589 votes
Meteor Showers: Annual events like the Perseids.
33%
•
599 votes
The Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights)
35%
•
629 votes
Other (please specify)
2%
•
27 votes
Not Interested
37%
•
659 votes
| Other Answers | Percentage | Votes |
| 0.52% | 15 | |
| ... | 0.03% | 1 |
| Black Holes | 0.03% | 1 |
| A supernova! | 0.03% | 1 |
| A I atlas | 0.03% | 1 |
| I can see these things except the space station | 0.03% | 1 |
| No problem seeing things I live in the country | 0.03% | 1 |
| n/a | 0.03% | 1 |
| None | 0.03% | 1 |
| Rainbow in the dark (It's not just a song.....I've actually seen one) | 0.03% | 1 |
| i see them alot when ever they are over head, all i do is look up, country life is good. | 0.03% | 1 |
| Zodiacal Light | 0.03% | 1 |
| Nothing wrong in enjoying what we see in stars and planets, many study and share findings. | 0.03% | 1 |
3.
3.
Ever since the space age began, we have been creating space debris. Some of this is orbiting at extremely high speeds, typically 15,000-18,000 mph, but relative speeds during collisions can reach 22,000-33,000 mph, making even tiny fragments dangerous due to immense impact energy. This debris also reduces our ability to see the heavens at night and more is being added, almost daily. Here are the sources of some of these items. Which of them were you aware of?
Derelict spacecraft (nonfunctional spacecraft and abandoned launch vehicle stages) and fragmentation debris from the breakup of these derelict items.
20%
•
361 votes
Solidified liquids expelled from spacecraft; unburned particles from solid rocket motors; and even paint flecks zipping around at orbit speeds. Those little puffs of gas we see in the Space-X videos don't just disappear like they do on earth.
13%
•
227 votes
As of April 2025, 40,230 artificial objects in orbit above the Earth are regularly tracked, however these are just the objects large enough to be tracked and in an orbit that makes tracking possible. Several spacecraft, both crewed and un-crewed, have been damaged or destroyed by space debris.
16%
•
295 votes
Not all space debris stays in space. Following the explosion of Starship Flight 7 in January 2025, the FAA slowed air traffic in the area where debris was falling because of its danger to aviation..
23%
•
421 votes
Other (please specify)
2%
•
35 votes
Not Interested
44%
•
795 votes
The largest single piece of abandoned space debris to make an uncontrolled atmospheric re-entry was the Skylab space station (75.7 tonnes) in 1979.
20%
•
368 votes
| Other Answers | Percentage | Votes |
| 1.23% | 21 | |
| none | 0.23% | 4 |
| ... | 0.06% | 1 |
| No "interested but I did not know any of these" choice | 0.06% | 1 |
| n/a | 0.06% | 1 |
| nond | 0.06% | 1 |
| None of these...thanks for the info. | 0.06% | 1 |
| How scary! | 0.06% | 1 |
| did not know any | 0.06% | 1 |
| I am interested but did not know specifically any of the above. | 0.06% | 1 |
| All very interesting info and good if you investigate for yourself your interest in particular | 0.06% | 1 |
| Didn t know any | 0.06% | 1 |
4.
4.
Even if you and NASA and others are watching the night skies, do you agree we need to need to see what is out there more clearly than we currently can?
Yes
45%
•
813 votes
No
7%
•
123 votes
Undecided
19%
•
342 votes
Not Applicable
29%
•
522 votes
- The entity that created it.
- Jewish space lasers.
- Those who create it
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