With Light Pollution, Perseids Meteors Less Spectacular
The weekend meteor shower will not be fully visible in most parts of the U.S and Europe.
It is estimated that two-thirds of Americans cannot see the Milky Way from where they live, says Scott Kardel, managing director of the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA.)
The IDA uses the Milky Way's visibility as a barometer of how much light pollution exists in the sky. Nearly all Americans and Europeans have some degree of light pollution where they live, with the worst offenders being large cities, where it's just about impossible to see anything other than the brightest stars. And in places like New York City or Shanghai, even those usually aren't visible. (Related: "Our Vanishing Night" from the November 2008 National Geographic magazine.)
So is there any hope for city-dwellers around the world who are looking to
