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Help To Map Light Pollution

Posted by kdawson on from the thousand-stars-in-the-sky dept.

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."

6 of 152 comments (clear)

  1. Seems Like a Cool Idea by rm999 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    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)?

    A few 1000 observers will offer very little resolution, considering the fact that light pollution is very localized. I live in the middle of an urban area, but can drive a few miles to see 10x as many stars.

  2. In My Area... by HexaByte · · Score: 2, Interesting
    In my area it's either light pollution or crime. Having been the victim of a couple of car break-ins because we didn't have the outside lights on, I choose light pollution.

    It's either that or armed guards, and electric is cheaper.

    --
    HexaByte - he's a square and a half!
    1. Re:In My Area... by Darth_brooks · · Score: 2, Interesting

      My neighborhood has no streetlights. We don't have a problem with break-ins because;

      -It's too dark to find our neighborhood. Unless you know it's here, the blazingly bright apartment complexes a mile down the road look like way better targets.

      -It's too dark to see what you're doing. Are you breaking in to a pinto, or a lexus? If there's no moon, it's tough to tell.

      Seriously though, just *having* a light on doesn't do anything more than give a thief a well lit work environment. I took this picture http://flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=1400894628&size=l on the way home from a trip to New Jersey. You're looking at SE Michigan, in the metro Detroit area. There are hundreds of thousands of lights in that picture that are shining straight up, wasting energy and brightening the night sky.

      --
      There are some people that if they don't know, you can't tell 'em.
  3. Count from Beijing, China by Goonie · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I did this exercise repeatedly in Beijing, China, a couple of weeks ago. When the atmospheric pollution was bad, I could only see two stars - though I suppose they may have been planets. This increased radically to three on a windy day where some of the smoke blew away.

    --

    Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo
    --Andy Finkel (J. Klass?)
  4. Re:Here ya go: by rucs_hack · · Score: 3, Interesting

    when I was a kid I lived in south Australia. where we were there was no significant light pollution (probably some, there was a city 50 miles away, but you couldn't tell).

    As a kid I could watch the stars just by laying on the beach by our house. I remember when we moved to england I wondered why the sky didn't have as many stars, and that was in the seventies. I just wasn't fun to look at. Now I know of only one spot near where I live that I can get even a slightly better view, and to get there is a two hour walk across the countryside, then the view is, well, not great.

    I don't even live in a city.

  5. Re:Here ya go: by UserGoogol · · Score: 2, Interesting

    That, and the amount of light radiated into space is not the same as the degree to which the sky is obscured. There's obviously a fairly tight relationship between the two, but measuring the latter directly is always nice.

    --
    "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." -- Hanlon's Razor