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March 16, 2009
Stargazing For Science
Is it dark out where you live? If not, it will be before the day is over. But just how dark will it be? Will the ambient light come from the stars, the planets, and the moon or will it come from light pollution?
Alun at Archaeoastronomy tells of an easy, fun, experiment in which you can participate. All you need to do is find one of the most recognizable constellations and report how it looks.
GLOBE at Night is running an experiment between March 16 to 28. About an hour after sunset (7pm in the UK) they’d like you to go outside and look at Orion. Then you pick the best match for what you saw against their charts. Then you can report your observation and see how your home compares to other people. In perfect conditions you should be able to see stars down to around Magnitude 6 or 7, but this will vary on your eyesight as well as sky conditions. By picking up enough observations the Globe at Night team will be able to make allowances for that and get a better idea of what the sky is like. Once you’ve made your observation, you’ll be able to compare your own findings with past years and see if light pollution is improving or getting worse.
Sounds like fun. Remember, wherever you are in the world, the important point is to look about an hour after sunset. Here in Southern California 8:00 pm would be a good time to look. Be sure to read all of Alun's post and look at the pictures too. He's always abnormally interesting.
Posted by Duane Smith at March 16, 2009 9:15 AM | Read more on Science - General |
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