light pollution

noun

1. unwanted or harmful light, as from bright street lights or neon signs.
2. Astronomy. artificial illumination of the sky that sets a limit on the faintness of stars that can be observed or photographed.

light pollution

noun

1. the glow from street and domestic lighting that obscures the night sky and hinders the observation of faint stars

Word History and Origins

Origin of light pollution¹

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

At the same time the team was able to show that some species also seek the heat of the city center, while others prefer the cooler outlying areas, where there is also less light pollution.

From Science Daily

But to the naked eye, on this night of nights, away from the light pollution of the cities, it was still just a slowly moving green-gray smudge, only there was just a lot more of it.

From Slate

“I think the most exciting thing about these special moons is that it gets people back out there observing the sky and our closest neighbor in the solar system, which has kind of fallen out of popularity because of all the light pollution around us.”

From Los Angeles Times

Living in the inner city in L.A., there’s smog, light pollution, sound pollution; we’re towered by these skyscrapers and all these street lights — our access to seeing the stars is blanketed.

From Los Angeles Times

To view the Draconids, first drive away from the city’s light pollution, then look to the northern constellation of Draco.

From Los Angeles Times