Count the Stars.

[Doug]

I received the following in an email today and think it worth passing on.

Equipped with only your eyes, you can join other stargazers in a worldwide effort to assess light pollution.
A team of astronomers and environmental scientists wants you to count some stars this month as part of the GLOBE at Night project, an effort to gauge the extent of light pollution worldwide. The task is simple: determine how many of Orion's stars can be seen on clear, moonless evenings from your home or observing site, then report your findings to project's website [links to http://www.globe.gov/GaN/
Conceived by staffers at the National Optical Astronomy Observatories in Tucson, Arizona, this ambitious endeavor is managed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research and Colorado State University. GLOBE stands for Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment, a program to involve primary-and secondary-school students in scientific activities worldwide.

If the link in the quoted text does not work, the following should;
http://www.globe.gov/GaN/
happy counting,

Doug

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Are they specifying Orions boundary? I can't find any info about it. Many sky maps have different constellation boundaries.

[DobDobDob (Ron)]

I'm going to do it, my first chart will be number 1, cloudy all over, unfortunately.

[DobDobDob (Ron)]

You know it starts tonight don't you?

[Doug]

Ken I think you just use their sky charts. If you keep to those boundaries you should be ok.

cheers,
Doug

[Ric]

I submitted my observation from last night, the best I had was mag 4 with lights on everywhere.
The result will be interesting.

Cheers

[DobDobDob (Ron)]

Originally Posted by Ric

I submitted my observation from last night, the best I had was mag 4 with lights on everywhere.
The result will be interesting.

Cheers

I submitted a 1, it rained all night in my location

[Doug]

I'm giving it a mag 4 tonight

[DobDobDob (Ron)]

I submitted a 3 , btw where is Rosemeadow?

[Doug]

About 3-4km south of Campbelltown

[DobDobDob (Ron)]

Originally Posted by Doug

About 3-4km south of Campbelltown

Blimy, never heard of it, thanks, I'm a bit of a sticky beak

[Gargoyle_Steve (Steve)]

I was quite keen to get involved wth this but as I haven't even seen a star in almost a week now it would be counter-productive if I were to log anything - my assessment wouldn't give any meaningful data about light pollution, it would only indicate cloud pollution.

[DobDobDob (Ron)]

I still would if I were you Steve, the more data the better, regardless of your personal situation, it's only been going two days, so you haven't missed much, and lets say tonight you have a clear night, then your data would be super important.

You can't change reality and I am sure their algorithm will prune out and take into account cloudy nights. There Number 1 magnitude is actually cloudy, so they have anticipated that and cloudy is part of it.

Jump in tonight and give it a go. I looked at the results so far and there are bad spots in Sydney and Melbourne but most of the other major cities are not so bad.

[WadeH (Wade)]

Just been outside for my count and came up with a 5 on their charts. Not bad.

[DobDobDob (Ron)]

Yeah I cracked it for a 4 from my location, the best yet over the last three nights

[Gargoyle_Steve (Steve)]

As I was unlocking my car to come to work around 11pm I looked up and saw the first clear sky I've seen in ages, as mentioned above they were the first stars I've seen at all for a week. So after cursing the unfairness of the weather gods Vs my roster for a full 3 minutes I took note of Orion's appearance and have logged a submission.

I did have trouble working out what magnitude viewing I had though - the sword is clearly visible to me which according to the charts is mag 5 viewing, yet some of the other stars that I can't see (if you know what I mean) seem to match their mag 4 chart. I put it down as mag 4 - it seemed a closer match in the end.

I know my skies are usually better than this though - I sure hope the week ahead improves, and that the damn clouds stay away!

[Ric]

Had another estimation from last night, this it's one better and a definite mag 5. The reasons being that all my neighbours had gone out and I was in total darkness in the yard as the streetlights were behind the trees.
It was a great imaging night as well before the Moon came out to play at around midnight, haven't had to many of them lately.

Cheers

[DobDobDob (Ron)]

That sounds about right Ric & Steve, I am in a fairly polluted suburb and reckoned a 4, so in a better area a 5 would have been really possible. In their mag maps, I think they have taken a good blended average approach, because this is viewed from all over the world and all light conditions, so they tried to go from zero to hero in as fewer maps as possible.

[Doug]

Easy 5 tonight.

[DobDobDob (Ron)]

Yep, same here