Is the powerful Milky Way disappeared : Hello friends, In today’s date, we see Milky Way as something like this. But the interesting thing is that 20 years ago, our parents used to see Milky Way as something like this. Filled with stars. Meaning, you can clearly see here that the Milky Way we see today is nothing compared to what our parents used to see.
But the most unfortunate thing is that if this continues, then our future children will never see Milky Way. Meaning they will only be able to see Milky Way in old pictures, not in real life. Well, according to research published in the Journal of Science, where in 2011, you could see 100 stars together from your location, in today’s date, they have reduced to only 34 stars.
meaning that at any given time, from night sky, you can only watch 34 stars. But this is not just a matter of stars or Milky Way. Rather, the larger picture of Milky Way is the Milky Way. And this is a very serious problem in reality. Because it tells us that the existence of humans has become so powerful and dominating over other species in today’s world.
And because of this, we humans are gambling with the future of the entire earth. And you will soon find out why I am saying this. Well, let’s look at an interesting pattern here. In today’s date, there are only 7 places in India where we can see the Milky Way. But, today’s India. The current situation of the Milky Way has happened in America since 1994.
In fact, the situation there has become so bad that you can only guess from this fact, that one day, when they saw a grayish white cloud in the sky, then the people there literally, seeing that cloud, got scared and called the US emergency service 911 for help. So, this is about 1994, when there was an earthquake in the US Los Angeles city at 4.30 in the morning.
Because of this earthquake, there was so much turmoil that the city lights went off. And the whole city was covered in darkness. And that’s why, to fix those lights, when the people there came out of their homes, then their eyes went to the sky. And they were shocked to see the sky. Well, because normally, they used to see the sky like this from their city.
But that day, they were seeing the sky like this. So clear that they were able to see stars, planets, and even satellites with their eyes. Now, it was okay to see the stars in the sky. But when they saw a grayish white cloud in the sky, then they thought that it was a meteor or an asteroid that was going to fall there.
And so, to save their lives, they immediately called the US emergency service 911 and asked for help. But when the US emergency service reached there, then they saw that the one they were so scared of, was actually Milky Way Galaxy. Now, this incident sounds very funny to hear. But this incident is pointing towards an underlying problem.
Those who reported about this incident, they were not children, but adults. Meaning, their average age was around 30 years. But still, they had never seen Milky Way at the age of 30. Now, it’s a big deal. What difference does it make whether they saw Milky Way or not in their life? Many people might not even know about it, that how can you see Milky Way in reality? But, if the same thing happens in a place like South Africa, then it will have a major impact on their life.
Because there are some insects in Africa whose entire lives depend on how clearly the Milky Way is visible in the sky. Well, for example, there is an insect in South Africa called the Dung Beetle, on which, in 2013, biologist Mary Dackey and her team conducted research. Then they saw that these beetles, at night, always walk in a straight line without any landmarks or references.
And they were clueless about their behavior. How were they able to do this? Because, they knew that insects like Dung Beetle’s eyes are made up of many small lenses. And the contradiction here was that, they were unable to focus on point objects like stars. And they were seen as completely dim. This means, that Dung Beetles are not able to navigate in the sky with the help of stars.
So, the question that stood before the researchers was, how were they able to walk in a straight line even in such darkness? To find out the answer to this question, the scientists took those beetles to Johannesburg Planetarium, which is a place where they could project night sky through a projector. They could artificially create it.
They took them there for the sake of an experiment. Here, they could manipulate the starlight, to find out with whose help those beetles find their way. And one day, while manipulating the starlight, they found an interesting correlation between their behavior and the Milky Way. The Milky Way is a galaxy.
With this correlation, they assumed that the beetles would follow the Milky Way’s arm in the sky. To confirm this, they changed the direction of the Milky Way’s arm in the planetarium many times. And they were right. They saw that every time the direction of the arm changed, the beetles would follow it and travel in a straight line.
And because of this, it is highly possible that if the Milky Way stops looking, the behavior of the beetles will change. Because of this, they won’t be able to eat food from time to time. And their existence will be questioned. And friends, you know what? Here, it’s not just about the beetles. There are many other animals that show such behavior traits, which are dependent on the Milky Way galaxy.
For example, Indigo Bunting, which is a bird. Sea Turtle, which is a reptile. Their survival will also be in danger. Now, if all these animals, which are somehow dependent on the Milky Way or the starlight for their survival, become extinct, then it can affect the entire food chain. And somewhere, the effects can spiral down and reach humans.
And the ecosystem can be in danger. And that’s why scientists want to know the reason for the disappearance of the Milky Way and the stars. Well, friends, interestingly, after detailed research on this matter by thousands of scientists, it came to light that the reason behind this phenomenon is a very special kind of pollution, which I have never talked about before.
And that pollution is called Light Pollution. Actually, in 2014, the President of the National Association for Protection of Night Environment in Italy, Physicist Fabio Falci, studied the night sky in detail. During this study, he compared the observations of more than 35,000 ground telescopes and made a scale of the quality of the night sky through them.
For this, Falci compared the most common galaxies in the sky, like Andromeda and Triangulum, and the brightest planet, Jupiter. And he calculated how dim or bright these objects look at different locations. Then, on the basis of these calculations, he divided the night sky into different classes and plotted it on a world map.
Now, I’ll tell you exactly what to see in this map. So, look, the quality of the night sky in the areas that are dark grey is the best. That is, from these locations, you can only see the Milky Way galaxy with your own eyes. But as soon as the color changes, the colors change from dark grey to brighter shades and finally turn white.
On those locations, the quality of the night sky gets worse and the stars stop being visible. For example, if we look at the case of India, then the quality of the night sky in the capital city, Delhi, is very bad. But surprisingly, if we look at the night sky quality of the Rajasthan desert, which is only 800 km southwest, then its quality is the best.
And look, not only Delhi, but all the developed and populated cities, like Mumbai, Hyderabad, and even the highly developed areas of other countries, like New York, Paris, London, are in the same condition. That means, where the population and development is more, the quality of the night sky is worse. Because in all these developed countries, the use of lights is very high.
Now, I know, you must be thinking that if we shut down the lights like Americans, then we will also be able to see the Milky Way galaxy. So, what is so problematic about that? Well, the thing is, even if we shut down the lights, we will not be able to see the Milky Way. Yes, that’s correct. Let’s come back to the map.
Are you able to spot another pattern in this? In all these cities, air pollution is also high. And because of air pollution, the dust particles in the air scatter the light in this way and make the situation even worse. That means, all in all, due to the combined effect of light and air pollution, the Milky Way and all other stars slowly, or simply speaking, our real night sky, are no longer visible.
But, let’s assume that in the next 50 years, we have controlled both these pollution. Even then, will we no longer be able to see the Milky Way galaxy? Well, another pattern is emerging here, which is affecting this phenomenon. And if that pattern continues, then yes, it will be difficult for us in the future.
In fact, scientists of the American Academy of Ophthalmology conducted a study in 2016. In this study, they analyzed surveys related to many eye diseases, and plotted a graph on their basis. According to this graph, by 2050, nearly half of the world will be affected by myopia. Simply speaking, their vision distance will be weakened.
And this is because, according to an eye specialist professor of the University of Anglia, Rupert Bourne, people’s screen time is increasing, due to which their vision is directly blurred. And this is why, understand this, because it is very interesting, the human eye is like a camera, in which the lenses become flat to see distant things, and become curved to see the near things.
Now, these hair-like ciliary muscles help in this conversion. So, when the ciliary muscles are tight, then the lens becomes curved. And vice versa, when the muscles are relaxed, then the lens becomes flat, and sends a clear image of distant things to the brain. Now, in such a case, if you keep looking at something close for a long time, then these tight ciliary muscles, get strained, which makes them unable to relax.
And as a result, the lens starts to lock in that phase. That is, simply speaking, things start to appear blurred. In fact, this has already happened in Singapore. You may not even know this, but in today’s time, Singapore has literally become the world’s myopia capital. Because 80% of the people there suffer from myopia.
And interestingly, Singapore is the country where the most light pollution is also happening. That is, according to the trend, Singapore will be the first country where people will never be able to see the Milky Way again. And the situation of Singapore is exactly the same. If the number of eye defects and light pollution continues to increase, then by the end of the 21st century, the Milky Way will stop being visible to all other countries.
Now, we do not have the exact answer to how long this will last. Because this is just a prediction made by a scientist, based on understanding current trends. But just wait here for a minute and think a little. Was the Milky Way going to be visible to us forever? Well, if I talk about the time many billions of years later, then there is no answer in simple words at all.
Because after so long, there are going to be a lot of changes on Earth naturally. Due to continuous volcanic eruptions in the future, our sky will be covered with a sheet of clouds. As a result, the Milky Way will stop being visible to the Earth. Plus, due to the expansion of the universe, there will be a time when all the stars will have gone away from us.
And along with these stars, the Milky Way’s center will also be visible to us today. The sky will basically start to show black, thick darkness. That means, naturally, the Milky Way is going to stop being visible to the Earth at some point. Just currently, as I said at the beginning of the article, the major issue is that, due to human activities, this seemingly slow process is happening in front of our eyes today.
And, for example, just four years ago, there was a cold wave in America. Due to this, the temperature had dropped to such an extent that in the hottest state of the US, Texas, where the temperature is normally 40 degrees Celsius, the temperature there reached minus 18 degrees Celsius. And the whole city was covered with snow.
And all this happened because the cold winds on our North Pole keep circling all year round. But due to industrial revolution, pollution, and human activities, the global temperature has increased so much that this cold-air storm that was on the North Pole has now leaked to Texas, the US. Is the Powerful Milky Way Disappeared?
Stay curious, keep learning, and keep growing.
Jai Hind.