I grew up gazing at Orion — today, that’s a rarity.
Maybe it’s time to really reassess the way our actions affect the environment.
“A child today, say a child under six in Delhi, is unlikely or probably has never seen the Pole Star or the Orion.”
~ Raghu Kalra, General Secretary, Amateur Astronomers Association*
Can you imagine a child never having seen Orion?
Ever since we were taught in elementary school, say around the second or third grade, to recognize certain constellations, I would invariably tug at my mom’s sleeve whenever we would get out the car after an evening of grocery shopping and point out Orion to her.
The lights in the parking space would be dim, and with head turned upward and hands full of grocery bags, I would try not to stumble as I followed my mom to the front door.
What can I say? For eight-year-old me, discovering Orion had been a fascinating thing. That Orion was the only constellation easy enough for me to remember certainly helped.
Those three conspicuous dots would beckon me.
Sparkling like diamonds — yes, it’s true! — in the night sky, they would coax my eyes to navigate back and forth from the first of them to the third, making me linger a bit while I imagined a belt.
If my mother had not already started making her way to the steps leading home, they would further entice me to trace the shape of a chest and a skirt, for that is how I imagined him!
I do not, however, believe that the walk from the car to the front door ever lasted long enough for me to trace Orion’s hand or his shield. Honestly, though, I doubt that I had it in me to keep my neck craned for that long.
My memories of Orion thus, more or less begin and end with the three sister stars. I realize now that Orion can only be seen during certain months of the year. But I do not remember a time as a kid that I would have looked up at the sky and not found him. To me, it appeared that no matter what day it was or what time we returned, Orion would always be there.
So, imagine my reaction when I read an article saying that there are kids out there who have never had the opportunity to glimpse Orion.
It’s next to impossible to imagine a child not being able to see even Orion’s Belt. Not knowing what the Orion constellation looks like is one thing. But not being able to spot it at all?
Yes, I did grow up pointing out Orion to my mother every other night. But even when I moved to a place where I had to strain my eyes to be able to make out the seemingly few stars in the sky, I still managed to catch a glimpse of Orion’s Belt on some occasions. Though I have gradually learned to limit my stargazing nights and cannot remember when I last took some time to just stare at the sky, whenever I find myself inadvertently lifting up my face towards the heavens, I know deep down what I am looking for — and I know that what I am looking for is out there but merely out of my reach.
But, what of those children who may never see those beauties hiding behind that smoggy atmosphere and whose eyes are too blinded by the artificial light emitted from Earth to be able to appreciate the luminescence from up above?
Will the sky ever be their playground?
It seems like a petty matter…
Call me a delusional occasional stargazer who appears to be giving way more importance to a specific bunch of stars in the sky than is warranted, but I hope that you realize the underlying implications.
The above-mentioned article* mentioned air and light pollution as the “main culprits.” It further gave guidelines regarding what we, as ordinary citizens, can do to help kids in the coming generations discover the sky and its treasures.
Not all of us may be able to do everything. But each of us can do a little something.
Here are some of my takeaways from the same:
- Turn off the lights if you are not using them. It sounds pretty simple but takes continual conscious effort to implement.
- Avoid excessive use of lighting, e.g. keeping store signs illuminated even when closed or not required.
- If you are a policy maker, speak up so that the streetlights in your area are turned on only when it begins to get dark and not when there is ample daylight.
- If you are getting new streetlights installed, make sure that they adhere to the appropriate lighting standards.
Today, it may seem like a petty matter.
