GLOBE at Night An International Year of Astronomy Dark Skies Awareness Program

GLOBE at Night GLOBE at Night An International Year of AstronomyAn International Year of Astronomy

Dark Skies Awareness Program Dark Skies Awareness Program

Connie Walker (cell: 520-331-2448)(National Optical Astronomy Observatory)

and the IYA2009 Dark Skies Working Group

Connie Walker (NOAO)

AAS Press Briefing, Pasadena, CA, June 9, 2009

Main Results

• 2x the average # of GLOBE at Night measurements from previous years– Indicating an increase in people’s

awareness of the importance of a dark night sky.

• Over the last four years, the overall distribution of dark and bright skies has remained constant.

• Mindsets are changing slowly over time.– Exemplary success stories in

communities across the nation.


Brighter Sky Darker Sky

Brighter Sky Darker Sky


Light pollution is a global issue with local solutions…

Artificial Night Sky Brightness Increasing over Time

(Cinzano, Falchi, & Elvidge 2001)

GLOBE at Night www.globe.gov/GaN/

• Citizen-scientists record the brightness of the night sky by matching its appearance toward the constellation Orion with star maps of progressively fainter stars.

• Measurements are submitted on-line and resulting maps of all worldwide observations are created.

• .


Over the last 4 annual two-week GLOBE at Night events, 35,000 measurements have been contributed from over 100 countries.

Measurements Taken in 2009• Twice the number of measurements on

average from previous years (>15,700)

• Measurements from more than 70 countries

• 73% from the U.S. (all 50 states)

• 900 measurements from Chile

• Over 200 each from the Czech Republic, Hungary and the United Kingdom

• 15 other countries reporting more than 100 measurements (Argentina, Australia, Canada, Colombia, Finland, Germany, Macedonia, Mexico, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Spain and Turkey)


Sponsoring Institutions

GLOBE at Night (www.globe.gov/GaN) is a collaboration between • the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) in Tucson, AZ; • The Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment

(GLOBE) Program, in Boulder, CO; • the Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI) in Redlands,

CA; • the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) in Tucson, AZ; and • the Centro de Apoyo a la Didactica de la Astronomia (CADIAS) in

Altovalsol, Chile. NOAO (www.noao.edu) is operated by the Association of Universities for

Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA), under the cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation.

Other partners include the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, the American Astronomical Society, the Astronomical League, Astronomers Without Borders, The World At Night, and Let There Be Night,org.


Trends over the Last Four Years


Brighter Skies Darker Skies







Bringing Dark Skies Awareness to People

"I learned that lights are a powerful thing and they can really change our effect on the world.”

- a 5th grader from Horizon Elementary in Granger, Indiana


…things I value about the GLOBE at Night program and how we are able to incorporate it here in our community”

- Chuck Bueter, Co-Founder of “Let There Be Night”, a program centering on GLOBE at Night

First Example:3400 Measurements from 1

Community


Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation (District) near South Bend, IN

Students asked, "How much of the night sky have we already lost?”

5 km

North

GLOBE at Night Map à la Legos


Second Example:City-Wide Lighting Inventory


Limiting Magnitude Measurements from Norman, Oklahoma


1 km

N

Sky Quality Meter Measurements from Norman,

Oklahoma


N

1 km

Citizen Science, Star-Hunting Programs

• GLOBE at NightGLOBE at Night–Next GLOBE at Night campaign was March 16 - 28, 2009–Orion and Sky Quality Meters–www.globe.gov/GaN

• How Many Stars? How Many Stars? –Jan, Feb, April-Sept, Nov, Dec 2009–Little Dipper and 3 belt stars in Orion–www.sternhell.at

• Great World Wide Star Count Great World Wide Star Count –Oct. 20 - Nov. 3, 2009 –Cygnus and Sagittarius–www.starcount.org


Dark Skies Awareness Global IYA Cornerstone

PROGRAMS

Citizen Science, Star-Hunting Citizen Science, Star-Hunting Programs

Education Toolkit Toolkit

Earth Hour Planetarium Show

Quiet Skies Traveling Exhibit

Earth & Sky Photo Contest Great Switch Out

Dark Skies Discovery Sites Second-Life, Facebook, etc.

Nights in the (National) Parks Podcasts

International Dark Sky Week International Dark-Sky Communities, Parks, & Reserves

www.darkskiesawareness.org


For more information

• Contact: Connie Walker – (IYA Dark Skies Awareness Chair ; Manager of GLOBE at Night)– 1-520-331-2448– [email protected]

• Websites of interest:– www.globe.gov/GaN/– www.darkskiesawareness.org– www.darkskiesawareness.org/files/GaN-maps/– www.darkskiesawareness.org/files/GaN-ppt/

Documents

GLOBE at Night An International Year of Astronomy Dark Skies Awareness Program