<p>I have something of an interest in astronomy. I also have a 5&quot; reflector telescope, plus of course binoculars. With the recent coronavirus emergency, a large number of commercial aircraft were grounded. It seemed to me that the skies were much clearer as a result. Now the planes are flying again, and the opposite seems to be true. Is this just my imagination, or pot luck? Do commercial aircraft have an effect on the clarity of the night-time sky?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-28T16:14:17.440Z
Interesting question.  I know that the cumulative effect of aircraft contrails have a measurable effect on climate, but I don't know if anyone has measured this with respect to clarity for astronomical purposes.
antlersoft
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-31T10:14:00.573Z
@antlersoft : noted. I was astonished at how clear and bright the sky was a while back. But by the time I was looking at comet neowise earlier this month, we seemed to be  back to normal. I was on the beach the other day looking up at the expanding contrails in what had been a clear blue sky, thinking about it.
John Duffield
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-09T15:13:47.727Z
I found https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_aviation very insightful. There are numbers given on black carbon emitted e.g. during take-off which could be used for some estimates for the overall soot intake into the air. I will try to do that some time soon.
B--rian
<amateur-observing><light-pollution>
What effect do aircraft have on night-time visibility?
John Duffield
# What effect do aircraft have on night-time visibility?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-07-28)

I have something of an interest in astronomy. I also have a 5" reflector telescope, plus of course binoculars. With the recent coronavirus emergency, a large number of commercial aircraft were grounded. It seemed to me that the skies were much clearer as a result. Now the planes are flying again, and the opposite seems to be true. Is this just my imagination, or pot luck? Do commercial aircraft have an effect on the clarity of the night-time sky?

**Tags:** amateur-observing, light-pollution
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Interesting question.  I know that the cumulative effect of aircraft contrails have a measurable effect on climate, but I don't know if anyone has measured this with respect to clarity for astronomical purposes.  
> **username_0**: @antlersoft : noted. I was astonished at how clear and bright the sky was a while back. But by the time I was looking at comet neowise earlier this month, we seemed to be  back to normal. I was on the beach the other day looking up at the expanding contrails in what had been a clear blue sky, thinking about it.  
> **username_2**: I found https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_aviation very insightful. There are numbers given on black carbon emitted e.g. during take-off which could be used for some estimates for the overall soot intake into the air. I will try to do that some time soon.  

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## 0 answers

