HK a poster boy for the starless urban sky

Hong Kong once made the cover of Time magazine for its severe air pollution.

A few years later, a photo of the city graces another magazine cover - this time for its light pollution.

The May issue of Sky and Telescope, an astronomy magazine based in the United States but widely circulated among stargazers around the world, features a series of stories about the urgency of saving the city's vanishing night sky.

The issue uses a probably slightly over-exposed photo of the view of Central and Victoria Harbour from the Peak for its front cover, with a headline reading: 'Bring Back the Night Sky'.

'Air and light pollution are actually linked. Low visibility caused by air pollution can increase the glare by diffusing the light with particles in the air,' Hong Kong Astronomical Society president Bill Yeung Kwong-yu said.

Yeung said the society supported a law to regulate city lighting, as that would give the next generation a chance to see real stars in the sky.