Planetary Wonderings
August Focus: Dark Skies
By Mary-Frances R. Bartels, NASA Solar System Ambassador
Most people are familiar with water,
air and possibly noise pollution,
but what about light pollution? Light
pollution is any nighttime
artificial light that shines where it is not needed. Is
this a problem? Professionals and amateurs from
numerous
fields answer a resounding “yes.” Stray artificial lighting wastes
electricity
and money; increases the production of carbon dioxide and other
pollutants; disrupts
wildlife by interfering with navigation, migration, and reproduction;
is a
health hazard to people; decreases, rather than increases security; is
a safety
hazard; and degrades the view of the night sky.
Despite the efforts of cities around the US
and, indeed, the world, to enact laws to help limit the sky glow from
artificial lighting, light pollution continues to be a problem. Information on proper lighting from economic,
ecologic, and security standpoints abounds on the web. This
article briefly touches on the
astronomical problem.
Let us look at light pollution from an
observing
position. Imagine going to see the
beautiful mountains of Colorado
or the Grand Canyon in Arizona. You expect to see some of the most stunningly
gorgeous scenery on the planet, BUT when you get there the weather is
either
hazy or raining, obscuring most, if not all, of what you came to see. The night sky near and in urban areas is like
this. Stray light interacts with the
atmosphere causing sky glow. Night
vision is ruined, further reducing the number of sky objects visible. Without leaving home one should be able to
experience the awe of night sky objects such as planets, comets,
meteors,
nebulae, and the like. However this view
for most of the US,
European, and eastern Asian populations is degraded by light pollution. Indeed, it is believed that 20% of the world’s
population, including 67% of those in the US,
cannot even see the Milky Way. What is
the result of this for science?
Space-based telescopes are great, but there is still much work
that can
be done on the ground, by amateurs and professionals alike, cheaper and
without
the hassles of launch and deployment.
Stray artificial light presently hampers the use of Earth-based
observatories. Rare
astronomical events could go
undiscovered. Amateur astronomers
routinely discover comets, asteroids (sometimes, potentially hazardous
asteroids), and monitor the brightness behaviour of thousands of stars. Less than two weeks ago an Australian amateur
astronomer discovered a black spot on Jupiter indicative of a comet or
asteroid
impact. Days later another amateur
discovered a white spot on Venus, possibly from a volcanic eruption. Increasing light pollution makes these discoveries
more and more difficult, if not impossible.
How might science education be effected if students cannot make
simple
observations of the night sky? How can children gain an appreciation
for
astronomy if they can barely see the Big Dipper, if at all? Light pollution jeopardizes the very future
of the study of space.
The goal of preserving the wonder of
the universe
significantly, if not entirely, overlaps with that of conserving the
planet’s
ecology as a heritage to its children.
So, any effort made to make or keep skies dark for astronomical
observations also has the benefit of cutting greenhouse gasses, saving
money,
etc.
Several organizations help promote dark
sky awareness. The International Dark-Sky
Association (http://www.darksky.org/)
distributes timely
information on the subject through its Facebook page and educational
resources,
including steps homeowners can take to decrease extraneous light from
their
houses via its website. The International
Year of Astronomy 2009’s Cornerstone Project has a website dedicated to
dark
skies awareness at http://www.darkskiesawareness.org/
where one can learn about dark sky activities and events.
The Light Pollution Science and Technology
Institute monitors sky brightness and stellar visibility via satellites. Maps produced from this data may be found at http://www.lightpollution.it/worldatlas/pages/fig1.htm
and elsewhere on the website. Other
groups concerned with dark sky awareness are listed below under
“Sources.”
Resource of the Month: Though the year is more than half over
EarthSky’s
Meteor Shower Guide for 2009 at http://www.earthsky.org/article/earthskys-meteor-shower-guide
is still useful. August is the month of
the Perseid meteor shower. This guide
mentions that shower as well as other showers throughout the year,
including
observing tips.
Activity of the
Month: Though having nothing to do
with astronomy, but related to dark skies, consider joining Firefly
Watch, a
citizen science project to help experts monitor the health of
lightening bug
populations. For more information check
out https://www.mos.org/fireflywatch/about_firefly_watch
.
When the fireflies are gone, those who
want to help
scientists monitor the night sky are encouraged to participate in the
third annual
worldwide Star Count event in October (www.StarCount.org).
Other websites mentioned in this
article are chocked full of
other dark sky activities and demonstrations.
Suggestions,
questions, corrections,
and comments about “Planetary Wonderings” are welcomed and may be
directed to
stargazer @ keeplookingup.net (remove
spaces). Past
columns may be found at www.KeepLookingUp.net
(click on
“Planetary
Wonderings” on the right side of opening screen) and at //www.freelists.org/archives/astronomyed/
(columns from Jan. 2007 to the present).
Remember to keep looking up!
Sources (not
already
mentioned in the article): http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/geopedia/Light_Pollution
http://www.lightpollution.it/indexen.html
http://www.darkskiesawareness.org/
http://www.britastro.org/dark-skies/
http://www.lettherebenight.com/index.html
http://www.nightwise.org/
--
Mary-Frances Bartels *** ki0dz@xxxxxxxx (((#))) ^ ^
www.RudolphsRabbitRanch.com Central Ohio | ^ - ^
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