Light pollution is the modern stargazer’s nemesis, pulsing wherever people congregate. That stands to make one of humanity’s greatest opportunities for shared wonderment – such a unifying force – a relatively exclusive one.

Erika Page reports today from Madrid on a metalworker turned sidewalk astronomer who offers passersby free peeks through his telescope. Yes, city light is a limiting factor. He can offer just the major celestial bodies: the closer planets, the moon.

Alfredo Paniagua is open-hearted about the open sky. He answers questions. But mostly he hangs back, letting the universe do its work. As Erika writes: “He gives visitors their own time with the infinite.”