This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Open AccessArticle
Relationship Between Darkness and Healing of Night Sky in Planetarium
by
Midori Tanaka
Midori Tanaka 1,*
,
Kenichi Otani
Kenichi Otani 2 and
Takahiko Horiuchi
Takahiko Horiuchi 1
1
Graduate School of Informatics, Chiba University, Yayoi-cho 1-33, Inage-ku, Chiba 263-8522, Japan
2
Konica Minolta Planetarium Co., Ltd., 3-1-3 Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo 170-8630, Japan
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2025, 22(4), 569; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22040569 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 24 February 2025
/
Revised: 3 April 2025
/
Accepted: 3 April 2025
/
Published: 5 April 2025
Abstract
This study aimed to address the unexplored relaxing effects of stargazing with different night sky darknesses in a planetarium by conducting an experiment to investigate the physiological effects of the relaxation/stress state on brain and autonomic nervous system activity, as well as the psychological healing effects. Five healthy young women participated in our experiment. We conducted physiological measurements of oxygenated hemoglobin (OxyHb) concentration in the left and right prefrontal cortices by near-infrared spectroscopy, heart rate variability as a measure of the relaxation/stress state, and a psychological assessment of healing on an 11-point Likert scale. We used 9 types of stimuli: 6-star image stimuli that imitated dark star fields (low light pollution) to bright night sky (high light pollution), and movie stimuli that were viewed daily. The results showed that (1) visual stimulation with images of dark night sky significantly reduced the concentration of OxyHb in the right prefrontal cortex and (2) the psychological rating of healing was significantly higher compared to bright night sky. The results of this study will help solve the problems of the mental and physical effects of light pollution on astronomical observations and the reproduction of star images in planetariums.
Share and Cite
MDPI and ACS Style
Tanaka, M.; Otani, K.; Horiuchi, T.
Relationship Between Darkness and Healing of Night Sky in Planetarium. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2025, 22, 569.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22040569
AMA Style
Tanaka M, Otani K, Horiuchi T.
Relationship Between Darkness and Healing of Night Sky in Planetarium. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2025; 22(4):569.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22040569
Chicago/Turabian Style
Tanaka, Midori, Kenichi Otani, and Takahiko Horiuchi.
2025. "Relationship Between Darkness and Healing of Night Sky in Planetarium" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 22, no. 4: 569.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22040569
APA Style
Tanaka, M., Otani, K., & Horiuchi, T.
(2025). Relationship Between Darkness and Healing of Night Sky in Planetarium. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 22(4), 569.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22040569
Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details
here.
Article Metrics
Article Access Statistics
For more information on the journal statistics, click
here.
Multiple requests from the same IP address are counted as one view.