# Light pollution

Also called: skyglow, sky glow.

Artificial light scattered into the sky, which brightens it and hides faint stars, galaxies and nebulae.

Streetlights and buildings send light upward, where the air scatters it into a glow over towns that can stretch 100 km. Most people in Europe and North America can no longer see the Milky Way from home. It hurts [galaxies](https://astropilot.space/glossary/galaxy) and faint nebulae most; planets, the Moon and double stars barely notice.

**At the eyepiece:** Even a short drive away from town lights helps enormously; so does shielding your eyes from nearby lights. A [nebula filter](https://astropilot.space/glossary/nebula-filter) helps emission nebulae, but nothing restores galaxies except a darker sky.

**In AstroPilot:** Each location's sky darkness comes from the 2025 World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness.

**Related:** [Bortle scale](https://astropilot.space/glossary/bortle-scale.md), [SQM](https://astropilot.space/glossary/sqm.md), [Limiting magnitude](https://astropilot.space/glossary/limiting-magnitude.md), [Nebula filter](https://astropilot.space/glossary/nebula-filter.md)

From the AstroPilot astronomy glossary: https://astropilot.space/glossary/light-pollution