Stargazing lights up the sky in many rural areas

One advantage of living in rural areas is that the night sky can often be more clearly seen than in urban areas, making it easier to see stars and the Milky Way galaxy. In Emmet County, Michigan officials at The Headlands International Dark Sky Park are trying to make night-sky preservation a state priority, Marie Orttenburger reports for the Great Lakes Echo, a project of the journalism department at Michigan State University. (Photo by Tony Andrea: Milky Way)

"There’s yet another natural resource we’re squandering, but the fix is easy, Just turn off the lights," Orttenburger. "We don’t really think of the night sky as a natural resource, maybe because we don’t see it as much more than an aesthetic pleasure – if we see it at all. But the truth is, a dark night sky plays much more of a role in the natural world than we credit it for, and light pollution interferes with that role." To listen to a podcast with Orttenburger interviewing members of The Headlands International Dark Sky Park click here.