Imagine for a moment that all the lights in New York City are shut off, and you could gaze up into the sky and see millions of twinkling lights looking down upon you. It would never happen, obviously, because New York is the City That Never Sleeps, but a new project to raise awareness of light pollution has created an extraordinary mock-up of what it would look like.

The Skyglow Project has produced a picture of the sky above New York City that is positively magical, with countless stars dotting the sky. Skyglow depicted this and other cities without light pollution to show what we are missing out on.

And they are not just talking about the view we do not get in the big cities because of light pollution. Skyglow is promoting “Dark Sky Week” from April 15 through 21 to call attention to all the other negative effects that light pollution has on us, and the benefits of cutting down on it.

“Artificial light emanating from house lights, electronics, and other sources suppresses melatonin, an antioxidant that induces sleep, boosts the immune system, lowers cholesterol, and helps the functioning of the thyroid, pancreas, adrenal glands, and various other parts of the body,” the Skyglow website states. “The full impact of nocturnal light on the health of human beings is not yet known as many studies are still to be conducted. Research to date suggests that artificial light’s disruption of circadian rhythm is one of the causes of obesity, depression, insomnia, diabetes, and breast cancer.”