A photometric mapping of the night sky brightness of the Maltese islands.

Over the years, the Maltese Islands have seen a marked rise in the prevalence of artificial lighting at night. The most evident type of light pollution arising from this evolution in anthropogenic night-time lighting is artificial skyglow via partial back-scattering in the atmosphere, leading to an increase in the Night Sky Brightness (NSB). The importance of understanding and quantifying the geographical distribution of the NSB is underscored by the adverse impact of light pollution on various spheres, from astronomical observation to ecology and human health.