GLOBE At Night

This week marks the start of GLOBE At Night. (This is known to those of us in the biz as GaN.) The goal of GaN is to get a broad survey of light pollution from all around the world. How can this be done? Simple - by you! All you need to do is look at their magnitude charts (magnitude is the measure of how bright something is), and compare your view of Orion with those charts to determine how many stars you can see. Then report your results (it takes about a minute and half the first time, less on subsequent visits). Lather, rinse and repeat as many times as you like between March 16 and 28.
Why would we do this? Is there any sort of point to this exercise? Of course. I wouldn't waste my precious blogging breath to tell you about it if there weren't. Many people have never even heard about light pollution, but I'm going to assume that you are intelligent enough to realize that light pollution is the result of so many city lights pointed up instead down that the light of the stars is drowned out. By participating, you're helping collect data on local light pollution. In short, you're odoing citizen science. In addition, you can download family activity packs, school lesson plans and nifty posters and postcards. So go out tonight and do your part!