Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
May 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009aas...21425602w&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #214, #256.02; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 41, p.756
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
For the IYA2009 Dark Skies Awareness Cornerstone Project, partners in dark-sky, astronomy and environmental education are promoting three citizen-scientist programs that measure light pollution at local levels worldwide. These programs take the form of "star hunts", providing people with fun and direct ways to acquire heightened awareness about light pollution through first-hand observations of the night sky. Together the programs are spanning the entire IYA, namely: GLOBE at Night in March, Great World Wide Star Count in October, and How Many Stars during the rest of the year. Citizen-scientists - students, educators, amateur astronomers and the general public - measure the darkness of their local skies and contribute observations online to a world map. Anyone anywhere anytime can look within particular constellations for the faintest stars and match them to one of seven star maps. For more precise measurements, digital sky-brightness meters can be used. Measurements, along with the measurement location, time, and date, are submitted online, and within a few days to weeks a world map showing results is available. These measurements can be compared with data from previous years, as well as with satellite data, population densities, and electrical power-usage maps. Measurements are available online via Google Earth or other tools and as downloadable datasets. Data from multiple locations in one city or region are especially interesting, and can be used as the basis of a class project or science fair experiment, or even to inform the development of public policy. In the last few years these programs successfully conducted campaigns in which more than 35,000 observations were submitted from over 100 countries. The presentation will provide an update, describe how people can become involved and take a look ahead at the program's sustainability. For further information about these and other Dark Skies Awareness programs, please visit www.darkskiesawareness.org.
No associations
LandOfFree
Can You See the Stars? Citizen-Science Programs to Measure Night Sky Brightness does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Can You See the Stars? Citizen-Science Programs to Measure Night Sky Brightness, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Can You See the Stars? Citizen-Science Programs to Measure Night Sky Brightness will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1105921