3 ms·
If the "nearest city" includes the edge of the suburbs, then perhaps. But there's a whole lot of sprawl in the US that has smeared the population across the lan
by throw0101a 5y ago
If the "nearest city" includes the edge of the suburbs, then perhaps. But there's a whole lot of sprawl in the US that has smeared the population across the landscape, with corresponding strip malls that have blazing lights 24/7.
There are a lot of hot spots on this map:
* https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/ https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/
For the US, one-third of the population lives in coastal counties:
* https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2019/07/millions-of-americans-live-coastline-regions.html https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2019/07/millions-of-a...
Two-thirds of the US population lives within 100mi (160km) of the border:
* https://www.aclu.org/other/constitution-100-mile-border-zone https://www.aclu.org/other/constitution-100-mile-border-zone
- vba616 5y agoI think the pictures that show the entire eastern seaboard as lit up may be misleading if one assumes they represent ground-level experience. While I haven't been engaged in amateur astronomy for a long time, I vaguely remember an event/meeting years ago that was not that far out in the country, and just a few miles/minutes travel away from the "strip malls" made a huge difference. Northern lights were visible and I think the Milky Way. I have been out west where it is really dark, so whether or not my recollection is accurate, I do know what undisputedly dark skies are like.