To: Homestead List <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [Homestead] Light pollution and Globe at Night
Date: Sun, 21 Feb 2010 02:31:13 -0500
Since most of us live in remote places, this might be fun. Even city
dwellers might find it illuminating. IMO, all homeschoolers should do it.
I've participated for the last 4 years.
Bev
*
The 5^th Annual Globe at Night Campaign: 3-16 March 2010
*What:* The Globe at Night Campaign
*When:* 8pm to 10pm local time, March 3-16, 2010*
**Where: *Everywhere*
**Who:* You! (Everyone!)*
**How: *See http://www.globeatnight.org *
*Why:*
*With half of the world’s population now living in cities, many urban
dwellers have never experienced the wonderment of pristinely dark skies
and maybe never will. This loss, caused by light pollution, is a concern
on many fronts: safety, energy conservation, cost, health and effects on
wildlife, as well as our ability to view the stars. Even though light
pollution is a serious and growing global concern, it is one of the
easiest environmental problems you can address on local levels.*
Globe at Night is an annual 2-week campaign in March that helps to
address the light pollution issue locally as well as globally. This year
the campaign is March 3-16, 2010. You are invited along with everyone
all over the world to record the brightness of your night sky by
matching its appearance toward the constellation Orion with star maps of
progressively fainter stars found at
/http://www.globeatnight.org/observe_magnitude.html./ You then submit
your measurements on-line at http://www.globeatnight.org/report.html
with your date, time and location. A few weeks later, organizers release
a map of light-pollution levels worldwide. Over the last four 2-week
Globe at Night campaigns, volunteers from over 100 nations have
contributed 35,000 measurements.
For activities that have children explore what light pollution is, what
its effects are on wildlife and how to prepare for participating in the
Globe at Night campaign, see the new activities at
_http://www.darkskiesawareness.org/DarkSkiesRangers_.
Monitoring our environment will allow us as citizen-scientists to
identify and preserve the dark sky oases in cities and locate areas
where light pollution is increasing. All it takes is a few minutes
during the March 2010 campaign to measure sky brightness and contribute
those observations on-line. Help us exceed the 15,000 observations
contributed last year. Your measurements will make a world of difference.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Constance E. Walker, Ph.D.
director, GLOBE at Night campaign
www.globe.gov/globeatnight <http://www.globe.gov/globeatnight>
associate scientist & senior science education specialist
www.noao.edu/education <http://www.noao.edu/education>
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
950 N. Cherry Avenue
Tucson, AZ 85719 USA
520-318-8535
cwalker AT noao.edu <mailto:cwalker AT noao.edu>
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
--
"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing
is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius
is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved
and always will solve the problems of the human race"
~ Calvin Coolidge
[Homestead] Light pollution and Globe at Night,
EarthNSky, 02/21/2010