Help To Map Light Pollution

jcgam69 writes "October 1 marked the first day of the Great Worldwide Star Count, a half-month citizen science project that will harness thousands of observers across the globe to help map light pollution."

Comments

Um.

[Adambomb]

Wouldn't it be just as easy to record a spin of the earth from the dark side?

Am i missing exactly why the stars light pollution keeps us from seeing would be a more useful measure than simply the brightness of light emitted?

Hey, don't ask me

[$RANDOMLUSER]

I live real close to Chicago. On a clear night I can see Venus (if it's not too cloudy here in the midwest). I do most of my skywatching here.

Re:Seems Like a Cool Idea

[Phroon]

But can't we just view how much light there is in space from satellite photos and guess what the light pollution would be (like in http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/archive/8/86/20040921144929!Usa_night.gif)?

We can. In fact, it's been done. This isn't the real goal of the project, though:

"This Windows to the Universe Citizen Science Event is designed to encourage learning in astronomy!"

They're trying to increase awareness of astronomy and the detrimental effects of light pollution. If it just gets people aware it's worth it. I might just do it myself so I have a measure of how much light pollution there really is in my backyard.

Re:Here ya go:

[Zymergy]

That's My Favorite Desktop Wallpaper! http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA02991 Original Caption Released with Image: Global city lights. The Eastern U.S., Europe, and Japan are brightly lit by their cities, while the interiors of Africa, Asia, Australia, and South America remain (for now) dark and lightly populated. (Image by Craig Mayhew and Robert Simmon, NASA GSFC. Based on data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program). FULL RESOLUTION IMAGE: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/tiff/PIA02991.tif

Re:Seems Like a Cool Idea

[dwarmstr]

Satellite measurements only catch the uplight. Horizontally emitted light ends up producing much more light pollution per lumen emitted than uplight.

North of Monument Valley

[stefanlasiewski]

Start at Kayenta Arizona, which is the largest town in the Navajo Nation, and functions as a regional capitol, of sort.

Bring a good car, several maps, one map which shows BLM Land. camping supplies, plenty of gas, food and water. You'll be in the middle of nowhere, so always make sure you have enough gas.

Head North on Highway 261, go through Monument Valley, head towards Natural Bridges National Monument. Monument Valley is one of the most famous places in the world, yet you can stand on the side of the road without seeing anyone for 30 minutes.

Drive 4000-feet up the side of a cliff on a crazy curvy old Uranium Road. This area is called the 'Gooseneck State Park. When you get to the top, stop and look back south over the valley--- you can see quite far.

Head north until you leave Gooseneck. This is BLM land. You can drive on any road, find a nice spot and camp. Wait until the nighttime, and check out the stars.

This is one of the most remote places in the US-- millions of stars. I remember it being so dark, and the stars were so bright that I could see faint shadows from the starlight.

Check out IDA

[KlaymenDK]

From http://www.darksky.org/about/ :

Goals
      1. Stop the adverse effects of light pollution on dark skies, including
                    * Energy waste and the air and water pollution caused by energy waste
                    * Harm to human health
                    * Harm to nocturnal wildlife and ecosystems
                    * Reduced safety and security
                    * Reduced visibility at night
                    * Poor nighttime ambience
      2. Raise awareness about light pollution, its adverse effects, and its solutions
      3. Educate everyone, everywhere, about the values of quality outdoor lighting
      4. Help stop other threats to our view of the universe, such as radio frequency interference (RFI) and space debris.

There are a bunch of very interesting articles on how less exterior lighting gives better visibility, roughly speaking because floodlights don't really light up everything and end up blinding you more than general darkness with point illumination.

Re:Here ya go:

[UbuntuDupe]

-Any ground astronomy actually discovering cutting-edge stuff, is already located far from cities.

-New observatories will be put on planes. (like NASA's SOFIA project) [1]

So, all it really means is amateur astronomers can't collect the best data. Which is bad, I agree, but

-in terms of scientific progress, is about as bad as not putting the latest scientific journal publications in high schools

-affects my life less than "noise pollution".

Yeah, mod me down, but someone had to say it.

[1] Before anyone else can do it: "Enough is enough! I have *had it* with these m/f'ing observatories having to go on m/f planes!"

Re:Seems Like a Cool Idea

[Abcd1234]

It's also worth noting that light pollution, represented as the total amount of waste light emitted skyward, doesn't give a realistic picture of the actual effects at ground level. Depending on the locale, things like humidity, atmospheric particulate levels, etc, can have a *dramatic* effect on the number of stars visible, even with moderate levels of light pollution. Consequently, having real, human observations of on-site effects can provide a more realistic picture.

Re:Hawaii Big Island solution

[MikeyTheK]

I live in the country on the mainland. When I lived in the city the ambient light made stargazing impossible. When my family comes to visit my house in the sticks, one of the things they all comment on is all the stars they can see now.

The stargazing on Hawaii is even more spectacular. However, the best stargazing I've ever done was from a little island on a tiny atoll several hundred miles west of Hawaii. Since there isn't anything resembling civilization nearby, it was about as black as one could imagine, as it was before moonrise. The night sky is completely chock full of dim lights that we have no hope of seeing when there is any ambient light at all. It really is amazing.