Light pollution is the phenomenon where city lights reflect off of the underside of the atmosphere and make viewing stars very difficult. When you’re in a city, it can be difficult to notice, as there is no reference point. But traveling outside of the city and looking back makes the issue extremely apparent: the perpetual red haze over the skyline.
If you’re in a city, such as Philadelphia where the first image was taken, most of the sky will be much the same shade as the right side of the image, but you will need very keen eye-site to be able to see as many stars as there are on the left. In the country, you’d see nearly as many stars as there are on the right, with a sky that was as pitch-black as the left.
The other images are attempts to capture the motion of stars through the light pollution of the city.
The motion of stars between two trees in my in-laws’ back yard.
