You grew up seeing 5 stars. Your ancestors saw 4,000. The Milky Way is invisible to most people on Earth.
Humans evolved under a sky full of stars. The Milky Way was a river of light across the night. Every human for 200,000 years saw it. Then we invented electric lights. Now, one third of humanity cannot see the Milky Way. In a city, you can see 5 stars. In a dark field, you can see 4,000. The difference is not your eyes. It is the light pollution.
Light pollution is the skyglow over cities. It is the orange haze that covers the night. It reflects off clouds. It fills the sky. It hides the stars. A child born in a city will grow up never having seen the Milky Way. They will not know what they are missing. They will think the night sky is a few pinpricks of light. They will be wrong.
The Milky Way is our galaxy. It is 100,000 light years across. It contains 200 billion stars. From a dark site, you can see its band. You can see its dust lanes. You can see its center. It is breathtaking. It is humbling. And it is invisible to most people on Earth.
This is not about astronomy. This about what you are missing. Every night, above your ceiling of light, there are 4,000 stars. There is a river of light. There is a galaxy. You cannot see it. The city has stolen it. Go somewhere dark. Look up. You will not recognize the sky.
Because the skyglow from city lights is brighter than faint stars. Only the brightest 5-10 stars punch through. The rest are drowned in orange haze. The Big Dipper might be visible. The Milky Way is not.
A Bortle 1 sky. No moon. No lights. No clouds. You can see 4,000 stars. You can see the Milky Way casting a shadow. You can see Andromeda with your naked eye. It is rare. It is getting rarer.
Yes. A full moon adds light pollution. On a full moon night, you lose most of your faint stars. The best stargazing is a new moon, away from city lights. The darker the better.
No. Not unless you are 100+ km from a major city. The light glow extends that far. If you can see orange on the horizon at night, you are in light pollution. The Milky Way requires true darkness.