Sky Glow

Neon Memes • A term from astronomical jargon, sky glow, describes the diffuse light pollution common to urban, suburban and even exurban areas, rendering them generally useless for professional telescopic observation because it obscures all but the brightest celestial objects. That term groggily recurred to me this morning as I exited my South Side bungalow. Après Daylight Saving Time, the luminous bleaching of sky glow was fast receding before the dawn, and the stars all had taken a rest. Still, only a postdoc astronomer, jonesing, perhaps, for the heights of Mauna Kea, could have gainsaid the loveliness of the view above my garage, a great vault of cloud-free azure. Beyond my little pied-à-terror, the sigh of traffic on northbound I-55 promised that this day, in all likelihood, would resemble all of its predecessors―vide the extraordinarily wise first paragraph of A Tale of Two Cities by Mr. Dickens―and the fallen mulberry leaves gone brown and brittle in my back yard hissed that winter would arrive soon enough. For the moment, though, that moment sufficed. After one last glance at that glorious blue expanse, I entered my garage, slid into my ZX2 and hit the ignition. ―Bryan A. Hollerbach, Managing Editor