![]() |
#NPRNightSky The Milky Way over Kilimanjaro. Day three on little hike. ic.twitter.com/uUHobTVDNB — BryanYM (@BryanYM5) June 19, 2016 |
If you're not seeing stars, you're not alone. A new report says that 80 percent of the world lives under light-polluted skies — and the Milky Way is hidden from more than a third of humanity. Blame it on the artificial lights that shine at night.
So who gets those pristine, ink-black sky conditions? You can, of course, find a great night sky in any country — as long as you're far from city lights. But according to the study, the 20 countries with the least light pollution are in Africa and Oceania.
Here's the list:
- Chad
- Central African Republic
- Madagascar
- Guinea
- Somalia
- Ethiopia
- Liberia
- Niger
- Sierra Leone
- Democratic Republic of Congo
- Burundi
- Guinea-Bissau
- Papua New Guinea
- Eritrea
- Mali
- Tanzania
- Solomon Islands
- Mauritania
- Uganda
- Sudan
![]() |
@NPRGoatsandSoda This one by @mosadjadpour for @seedeffect in #SouthSudan is a fav! #NPRNightSky - Seed Effect@seedeffect |
![]() |
Kelsey Weisgerber @KelsWeisgerber Beautiful night at Kidepo National Park in N. Uganda @NPRGoatsandSoda #NPRNightSky photo by my friend Kate Stephen |
![]() |
teena teena @wattee_wattee Jun 17 @NPRGoatsandSoda When the moon is round. Lake Anosy, Antananarivo, Madagascar #NPRNightSky |