Message from NBC news – are our skies becoming more ‘starry?’

Dear BAA members –

I hope you are well?

I am a journalist with NBC News in London currently looking into a piece about London’s night sky. I’ve lived in the city for 13 years and back in February it struck me and a few other friends that the sky appeared much more starry than we could ever remember it here. Presumably some of this is down to the weather but I still don’t remember being able to see so many stars during similar periods of clear, cold nights in previous years.

I would be interested in exploring this idea, potentially for a written story on NBCNews.com, so I am trying to canvass some expert opinion. To that end, I wondered whether you or any of your members had thoughts on this? Is this something you have experienced yourself? If so, what are the possible explanations? Could the drop in NO2 over London reported by City Hall last month be a factor?

I would be fascinated to hear any thoughts you might have for the story I hope to write for NBCNews.com. Any help at all would be very much appreciated. How does that sound? Any questions please let me know.

A bit about us: NBCNews.com and NBC News Digital reach more than 58 million unique visitors, generating more than 1.2 billion page views each month. I am the lead enterprise reporter on the London team, which covers international stories. You can see some of my previous work here: http://www.alexander-smith.com

Thanks and all the best –

Alex