On a very clear, dark night...

On a very clear, dark night, far away from city lights, you can see about 1,500 stars. Our Chicagoland night skies aren't dark — far from it! We have a large problem with light pollution. Our city lights shine up into the nighttime sky, and the light reflects off of water vapor, dust, and other material to make the sky seem to glow. This sky glow drowns out all but the brightest stars in the sky.

How many stars we see in the Chicago area depends on how much light pollution is around us and how bright the moon is. Compare top star on the right to the bottom star on the left (a city night sky).

What does your sky look like?

How many stars do you see in the sky? Join Adler's Citizen Science team by counting the stars in your neighborhood using our easy, four-step process and reporting your findings right here on the Light Pollution Project website.

The Light Pollution Project was originally created as part of Chicago Science Expedition.