Looking for Black Holes

Living in the megopolis stretching from Washington DC to NYC is never stranger than at night. Growing up in mid-America I enjoyed being able to see the stars at night. In DC however, one is fortunate to be able to see any stars at all. The light pollution at night causes the sky to glow with reflected light from the city. The Milky Way probably hasn't been seen in these parts since early in the 20th Century.

For an interesting look at the variation of light pollution around the globe take a look at the world light pollution map here. The places I long to be in are the black areas between the glowing cities.

While this map shows where one cannot expect to see stars at night, it also is the most visual representation of economic development from region to region. To see my point take a look at this map that covers both South Korea and North Korea as well as Japan and China. That big black hole between South Korea and China is North Korea.