International Dark Sky Week

Initially created in 2003 by a high school student, the International Dark Sky week has become a global event.

I've felt frustration myself at light pollution, not just because I've never seen the Milky Way, but because it's so annoying when trying to get to sleep! But there's not a great deal we can do apart from check that we only use indoor lights for the rooms were in and check that our outdoor lighting is appropriate, is there?

Well, we can upload an observation of what we can see at our location by visiting the website GLOBE at night. This is a fantastic website that collates the observations that are sent in and allows us to view them using Google maps. We can not only see how dark the sky is in our area or the country, but in every country of the world that has had observations submitted. It's a really quick and easy process, taking no more than a few minutes, listen to this Podcast about the survey. Currently there have been 11,000 or so observations recorded, to join them you need to be quick with this, as the last night to record your observation this year is 20th April.

There's also a project called the Campaign to Protect Rural England. Their observations take place in January and February and require us to simply count the number of stars seen in the constellation of Orion at your location. To see further details and to get updates, visit the website. These data are used for the Campaign for Dark Skies to make all relevant parties, such as councils, aware of the impact they are having on the environment - not just our enjoyment of the night sky, but also interrupting wildlife and most importantly my sleeping pattern!

On a more serious note, I'm glad to see that our council in Wiltshire has in the past year or so put up signs on various roads saying that the lights for that road are off between certain hours at night. It's a small step - but it's in the right direction. I remember when I was living in Cherhill, a village with no lights, it was wonderful. If only I'd have made the most of it. Maybe in time we'll all be able to enjoy the night sky proper, from our own back gardens.



ETA: I just did the observation for Globe at Night, it was really easy (meaning that if I can do it, then so can you). It took around 5 minutes, which was longer than excpected - but I couldn't find my slippers. I only recorded a 2 magnitude out of 7 - basically meaning that I could see very few of the many possible stars I would have seen at a dark site. Here's the thank you page: