[AZ-Observing] Re: Lights off in downtown for Earth Hour ?? Reports from Fountain Hills and GRCO in Gilbert
- From: "Jennifer Polakis" <m24@xxxxxxx>
- To: <az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <sac-board@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <sac-announce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "EVAC" <evac@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "SAC Forum" <sac-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Steve Coe" <stevecoe@xxxxxxxxx>, <keithparizek@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2008 13:24:52 -0700
Definitely not a "bust"! It was a great success in many ways--especially in
getting the word out about how ignorant lighting of the sky has dissolved
the Milky Way and how simple it is to remedy the problem of light pollution
while saving on energy expense and CO2 emissions-- Hopefully this is only
the first in many years to follow and as with most projects of this
magnitude more and more bugs will be worked out based on previous year's
errors.
Another great success was in the discovery of new resources and partners.
Arizona is the Astronomy State with the largest concentration of telescopes
and astronomers with a lot to gain economically, scientifically, and
aesthetically by paying attention to and remedying light pollution. The
Arizona Arts, Sciences and Technology Academy (AASTA) http://www.aasta.net/
is working with the Arizona Dept of Commerce, UofA, the LBT, Lowell Obs,
NOAO, Vatican Obs, and many others in presenting a new lighting ordinance
and have just completed an economic impact statement of astronomy in our
state. The National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO)
http://www.noao.edu/ had a network of Sky Quality Meters in place for this
event and also provides a wealth of information and connections regarding
the light pollution problem. The Association of Universities for Research in
Astronomy (AURA) http://www.aura-astronomy.org/wwa/wwa.asp has a tremendous
amount of useful information and links like this one: THE GLOBE AT NIGHT
http://www.globe.gov/GaN/. They have an annual participation project that
we just missed. Subscribe to it, and get on board for the next one! And a
new partnership between local amateur astronomers and the Arizona Science
Center http://www.azscience.org/ was born from this event thanks to a simple
short invitation for participation from their Theater Manager, Mike George.
So, despite blunders and the fact that downtown Phoenix is only maybe 1/10th
of one percent of greater Phoenix, the message that came from this effort
was powerful and important--So, PLEASE let's embrace this gift of
opportunity to continue the message that You can save energy expense, use
less wattage and less lights, reduce CO2 emissions, AND help bring back the
MilkyWay _everyday_ by simply shielding and pointing your lights down, and
turning them off when they're not needed.
Definitely not a bust.
Jennifer Polakis, VP
Saguaro Astronomy Club
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