1 Outreach You Can Do to Promote Dark Skies Awareness: Connie Walker Connie Walker ( ( National Optical Astronomy Observatory National Optical Astronomy Observatory ) ) and the "GaN" Team and the "GaN" Team GLOBE at Night GLOBE at Night For Local Leaders of Dark Sky For Local Leaders of Dark Sky Advocacy… Advocacy… January 20, 2011 1 NSN2011 Telecon
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1 Outreach You Can Do to Promote Dark Skies Awareness: Connie Walker (National Optical Astronomy Observatory) and the "GaN" Team GLOBE at Night For Local.
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Outreach You Can Doto Promote Dark Skies Awareness:
A global problem that people can help solve locally…
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How to bring awareness and a desire to slow down
the increase in light pollution?
(Cinzano, Falchi, and Elvidge 2001)
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Questions to Consider How do you explain to city dwellers the importance of
what they’ve lost to artificial sky glow? How can you make them aware that 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?
How do you convince them that it’s worthwhile to take steps, even small ones, to help redress this issue?
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Light Pollution Educationat NOAO
Students in Grades K-12, Teachers, General Public
Both formal and informal settings GLOBE at Night Campaign Dark Skies Rangers activities
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GLOBE at Night www.globeatnight.org
• 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 5 annual two-week GLOBE at Night campaigns, 52,000 measurements have been contributed from over 100 countries.
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GLOBE at Night Websitewww.globeatnight.org
5 step citizen science program – simple to participate
Background information on key concepts
Interactive games Fun quizzes to check proficiency Teacher and Family Guides in 14
different languages Postcards, flyers en español también! Report page Map page with data in various formats
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Match Night Sky to a Match Night Sky to a Magnitude Chart.Magnitude Chart.
Estimate cloud coverageEstimate cloud coverage..
Fill out the observation Fill out the observation sheet.sheet.
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A more technically accurate approach:
using Sky Quality Meters
Press start button here:
Light enters here:
Read-out numbers here:
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Simple Report Form
Date and Time
Orion data
and SQM data
Location
http://www.globeatnight.org/report.html
Cloudiness
Tablet/PadCell
Phone
Desktop/Laptop
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Measurements
are downloadable as datasets in various formats
can be examined online via Google Earth or other tools
used as the basis of research in a class-room or science fair project or even to inform the development of public policy
• Children’s Book: “There Once was a Sky Full of Stars”
• Quiet Skies Activity (AM radio & fan)
• Sky Quality Meter (optional)
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Shielding Helps Minimize Light Pollution
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Types of Lamps
• Incandescent
• Fluorescent
• Light Emitting Diode (LED)
• High Intensity Discharge
Compact Fluorescent Lamp
LEDFluorescent
High Intensity Discharge
Incandescent
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Unshielded and Shielded Lighting
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The Difference Retrofitting Luminaires Can Make
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Lighting Responsibly
• Shine the light down.
• See the effect, not the source.
• Light only where and when needed.
• Don’t over light.
• Use energy efficient sources.
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Light Trespass
Sky Glow
3 Main Types of Light Pollution
Glare
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Energy, Safety & Security
Human Health Wildlife
The Effects on…
Astronomical Research
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Data Analysis
• Comparison of data over time (changes, trends)
• Comparison to data on population density
• Search for dark sky oases
• Monitor ordinance compliance
• Effects of light pollution on animals or plants
• Effects on human health
• Effects on safety, security, energy consumption, cost
Tucson, Arizona, USA
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Students Ask: How Much of the Night Sky Have We Already Lost?
5 k
m
Nort
h
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City Lighting Inventory by High Schoolers & Amateur Astronomers
1 km
N
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GLOBE at Night Data 2006-2010
2500 Orion data points
plus
500 SQM data points
for Tucson, AZ
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Contour Map of GaN Data (2006-2010)
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GLOBE at Night + Bat Telemetry Data
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Bat Telemetry Data + City Ordinance Zones
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Looking Toward the Futureby Building...
• An on-line community with Facebook and Twitter – done!
• On-line tutorials of the Dark Skies Rangers activities – half way done!
• A web application to submit GLOBE at Night data using mobile devices – help us test the app!
• More monthly campaigns – on their way!
• A user-friendly analysis tool on the GLOBE at Night website (WWT & WGBH) – a bright future!
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GLOBE at Night Needs You...
1 To take GLOBE at Night data during both campaigns.
2 To teach and encourage children and adults to take GLOBE at Night measurements.
3 To become a local coordinator that would work with people at a starparty, or in a classroom or 2 or 3... or with visitors at a local park on their participation in the GLOBE at Night campaign.
4 To do the Dark Skies Rangers activities with students to teach them about light pollution issues and lighting responsibly.
5 To use the GLOBE at Night data with other data sets.
6 To work with the IDA in preserving dark skies.
7 To do it all.
Mag
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GLOBE at Night Campaign2011
February 21 to March 6 for both Northern and Southern Hemispheres Uses Orion.
March 22 to April 4 for Northern Hemisphere Uses Leo.
March 24 to April 6 for Southern Hemisphere Uses Leo or Crux.
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Websites of interest: www.darkskiesawareness.org/
DarkSkiesRangers/
www.globeatnight.org
www.facebook.com/GLOBEatNight
twitter.com/GLOBEatNight
www.globeatnight.org/webapp
Further Information
iPhone, Android or Blackberry?
Scan the QR Code above to go directly to the beta version of the
GLOBE at Night (www.globeatnight.org) has been 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.
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.