For Local Leaders of Dark Sky Advocacy…
Outreach You Can Do
to Promote Dark Skies Awareness:
GLOBE at Night
Connie Walker
(National Optical Astronomy Observatory)
and the "GaN" Team
January 20, 2011
NSN2011 Telecon
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1
National Optical
Astronomy Observatory
Cerro Tololo InterAmerican Observatory
Kitt Peak National
Observatory
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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 Education
at 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 Website
www.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
Magnitude Chart.
Estimate cloud coverage.
Fill out the observation
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
http://www.globeatnight.org/report.html
Date and Time
Tablet/Pad
Cell
Phone
Location
Orion data
Desktop/
Laptop
Cloudiness
and SQM data
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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 classroom or science fair project or even to
inform the development of public policy
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Dark Skies Ranger
Activities
www.darkskiesawareness.org/DarkSkiesRangers/
• Explorer
- Light Shielding Demo
- School Outdoor Lighting Audit
- Student Symposium
• Protector
 Turtle Hatching Activity
 Wildlife Activity (Insects)
• Advocate
 Magnitude Reader
 Finding Orion, Leo, etc.
 A Star Hunt Campaign.

Ranger (Students present results.)
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Dark Skies Education Kits
(600 kits distributed)
• Materials for a light shielding demonstration
• Dark Skies Ranger activities
• Dark Skies Education & GLOBE at Night
resources on CD and 2 DVDs
• Advertising materials (postcards, poster,
flyers, etc)
• 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
Fluorescent
Compact
Fluorescent Lamp
LED
Incandescent
High Intensity
Discharge
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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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3 Main Types of
Light Pollution
Light Trespass
Glare
Sky Glow
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The Effects on…
Astronomical
Research
Human Health
Energy, Safety
& Security
Wildlife
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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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5 km
North
Students Ask: How Much of the Night Sky
Have We Already Lost?
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City Lighting Inventory by High
Schoolers & Amateur Astronomers
N
1
km
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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 Future
by 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...
Mag
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. 
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GLOBE at Night Campaign
2011

February 21 to March 6 for both
Northern and Southern Hemispheres


March 22 to April 4 for Northern
Hemisphere


Uses Orion.
Uses Leo.
March 24 to April 6 for Southern
Hemisphere

Uses Leo or Crux.
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Further Information
Websites of interest:
 www.darkskiesawareness.org/DarkSkiesRan
gers/

www.globeatnight.org

www.facebook.com/GLOBEatNight

twitter.com/GLOBEatNight

www.globeatnight.org/webapp
Contact: Connie Walker
GLOBE at Night Director
1-520-318-8535 or
cwalker@noao.edu
iPhone, Android or Blackberry?
Scan the QR Code above to go
directly to the beta version of the
GLOBE at Night data
submission web app.
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Sponsoring Institutions
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.
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