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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."
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http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/image/earth_night.jpg
Done.
Table-ized A.I.
The sample size will be way too small. And how are you going to map rural areas where no one lives? And how do you know that everyone is counting every star (and just once!)? A good idea in theory, and if the project's aim is simply to get the general public aware of how bad pollution is... I guess it's a plausible concept. But it's in no way accurate. I mean, what if it's cloudy? This seems like just another thing to do so people can say "harnessing the power of (insert any word for great number of people here) to (insert undoubtedly noble concept/idea here)." I mean, really, there's astronomers who do this, right?
As an amateur astronomer I always support these efforts, not so much because they truly add a lot of value as the potential PR they generate. I live in an extremely urban area and can only see planets and the very brightest stars. And the problem is that we tend to generate a lot of light pollution that is a waste. We don't just illuminate the areas that needs it, but throw off a lot of light pollution because our lights are not focused on the needed area. It's like the standard light in your house, you turn it on and it throws light everywhere even though you just needed it to read a book, it's a waste. I'm not a green fanatic, but it just makes economic sense to try and reduce and eliminate waste where it exists .... plus I really miss seeing the Milky Way.
I live in Las Vegas. On a clear night I can see the Moon
Negative moral value of force outweighs the positive value of good intentions.
The whole idea that man made lights are causing light pollution is just a hoax foisted onto you by the libural media.
Laugh. It was funny.
Considering a lot of light pollution is mostly a matter of inefficiency... Since you think it's a choice between light pollution and crime, I have to assume that you think that shooting vast amount of light into the sky somehow feeds the moon god, who in turn stops crime out of gratitude.
Seriously, a big part of the problem is with street lights that don't point all of there light toward the ground. Sure, a really well lit ground will bounce some light back up, but some lights literally just shine right up into the sky.
Also, in many cases excessively bright lights are used, which results in pools of blinding brilliance with pools of pitch black between them. In that case, the solution to make people feel safer is not to make the light brighter, but more even (and possibly dimmer) so that you can't hide in the harsh shadows.
Sooty air will block that nasty light pollution. Any light pollution more than just a couple miles from the observatory will be rendered harmless!
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.
"Can of worms? The can is open... the worms are everywhere."
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.