Under the Dark Skies | National Geographic

More than 130 years ago, before the advent of streetlights, we had the opportunity from the millennia before that to experience a starry night sky. It invited us inspiration and awe. [Music] When you are out under the night sky in the dark, next to your family, there's nothing like it. You feel close to each other and to really connect on a different level than you were during the day.

The International Dark-Sky Association is a not-for-profit organization based out of Tucson, Arizona, that works all around the world to protect the natural nighttime environment. One of the most important things that we do is education and outreach. "Look up" is a sentiment that reminds me that we are more than just the world we inhabit. The problem that is associated with light pollution has only really come about in a little more than the last hundred years. For everybody, there's really something to see and to learn just by going outside and looking up at night.

Kids have a natural curiosity for stargazing. It is not hard to get them excited or interested in this activity. What's the name of the brightest star in the night sky? Every kid that comes out here has a first-hand experience with nature; they are explorers. My favorite thing about space is that there's lots of stars. It's important to do stuff like this because it's fun and it's interesting. It's different than looking at it from like your balcony because you can see it from what it really is.

I haven't done anything like this before. I like that there's so many things that we don't know about it. We only know so little, and we can keep exploring. It's important for parents and kids to definitely get out, put the screens down, you know, get back to nature. Not only building memories, but you're deepening your connection with, you know, the earth that we live in.

The idea of being able to explore the natural nighttime environment is something that's really special to humanity throughout our entire history. It has led to wandering, exploring, and discovering things we had never contemplated before. Where do we come from? What are we made of? What's gonna happen to us in the future? I think the night sky can teach kids a lot about our place in the world, and it connects them with something that's beyond just our experience here on earth.

Thank you, IDEEA. Thank you, National Geographic, part of Starstruck, a year-long celebration of space. [Music]