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Globe at Night

April 11, 2024

Globe at Night is an international scientific research program that crowdsources measurements of light pollution in the night sky. At set time periods within each year, the project asks people to count the number of stars that they can see from their location and report it to the project's website. The coordinating researchers compile this information to produce a public, freely available map of global light pollution. By September 2011, almost 70,000 measurements had been made.[1] The use of data collected by the public makes the program an example of citizen science.[2] Globe at Night began as a NASA educational program in the US organized by the NOAO, and was expanded internationally during the 2009 International Year of Astronomy;[3] it is an offshoot of the GLOBE Program, which focuses on school-based science education.

Globe at Night
Artificial lights showing the locations of light pollution in October 2012.
KeywordsLight Pollution, Astronomy, Scotobiology, Citizen Science, Crowdsourcing
Funding agencyNational Science Foundation via NOIRLab
ObjectiveMeasuring and raising awareness of artificial light pollution
Project coordinatorAURA, Connie Walker
PartnersInternational Dark-Sky Association, CADIAS
Duration2006 –
WebsiteOfficial website

Scientific rationale edit

 
Artificial lights attract many insects, to the advantage of some spiders, as on this lighted bridge over the Loire River, France. These changes in behavior can then affect food webs and cause further knock-on effects.

Light pollution, the introduction of artificial light into formerly dark ecosystems, has numerous adverse ecological effects. Exposure to artificial light can prove fatal for some organisms (e.g. moths that fly into a burning flame), can interrupt a life cycle phase for others (e.g. glowworms are unable to attract mates), and can reduce the possibilities for finding food (because of increased risk of predation).[4] Light at night can also interfere with the chronobiology of many animals, including humans, through suppression of melatonin secretion.[5]

There are also cultural and economic reasons for concern about excessive light at night. Skyglow prevents large fractions of the Earth's population from viewing the Milky Way,[6] which drove the development of much of ancient science, mythology, and religion. In the US, the cost of generating wasted light is estimated to be 7 billion US dollars per year;[7] the production of the electricity for this wasted light also results in the release of chemical pollution and greenhouse gases.

The Globe at Night project has two main goals: raise public awareness of light pollution and its effects, and provide global mapping data for light pollution.[1][8][9]

Method edit

 
The visibility of the constellation Orion varies depending on the observer's local level of light pollution; clear sky is on left, light-polluted sky is on right. Note that the photo at left shows more detail than can be seen with the human eye.

The project asks members of the public to go outside on dark moonless nights and report how many stars are visible in particular constellations.[1][3] The project focuses on students, teachers, and families, and has produced activity packets in 13 languages.[3][10] NASA encourages students in its INSPIRE program to participate.[11]

Participating individuals are asked to go outside on specified dates at least an hour after sunset, then let their eyes adjust to the ambient light level, and observe a specific constellation: Orion or Leo in the Northern Hemisphere, Crux in the Southern Hemisphere.[8][10][12] The choice of a two-week span of dates near the new moon removes any effect on sky brightness from scattered moonlight, and observing well after sunset prevents any lingering light from twilight.[13] By comparing the stars they see with star charts showing stellar visibility under different light pollution conditions, they qualitatively measure light pollution.[14][15] Stellar visibility can also be measured for the project using a Sky Quality Meter, a tool used by amateur astronomers.[14] These light pollution data are then submitted to the coordinating website via a web browser.[16][17] The assembled data are provided to researchers and the public via a mapping interface that displays the data overlaid on Google Maps.[18]

With this technique, observers are reporting a naked eye limiting magnitude (NELM) between 1 and 7. Humans are able to observe stars below 7th magnitude, although this may require blocking out other sources of light.[13] Under clear, unpolluted skies, the measurement of NELM should be strongly correlated with the level of light pollution. Other factors, particularly those that reduce the seeing, can reduce NELM:[13]

Globe at Night also distributes teaching kits that demonstrate how fully shielded lights reduce glare and improve the visibility of the night sky.[3][25]

Accuracy of measurements edit

 
When Globe at Night observations are averaged together, they are very strongly related to the sky brightness in the location. This is a single panel from this image.

The standard deviation of an individual Globe at Night observation is approximately 1.2 stellar magnitudes.[2] Due to the law of large numbers, when the observations are considered in aggregate, the errors from individual observations cancel each other out, leading to very stable mean values. This means that Globe at Night observations could be used to estimate global or regional trends in sky luminance.[2]

Conversion of measurements into other units edit

Globe at Night observations identify the dimmest stars that are visible given the surrounding conditions. Assuming normal visible acuity and clear skies, it is possible to approximately convert Globe at Night naked eye limiting maximum estimates into other units:[26]

NELM Visible stars mcd/m2 mag/arcsec2
1 10 160 14.6
2 30 60 15.6
3 80 20 16.6
4 250 8 17.8
5 800 3 19.0
6 2,500 0.8 20.4
7 7,000 0.2 22.0

History edit

 
Locations of Globe at Night observations from 2009–2011.

The Globe at Night project was launched as a NASA program in the United States.[1] The project quickly expanded internationally, and was part of the outreach effort of the International Year of Astronomy in 2009.[27] The size of the project (in terms of number of observations) expanded dramatically in that year. In 2014, the project expanded to also include data obtained via the Loss of the Night app for Android devices, and the Dark Sky Meter app for iOS devices. In addition, new star charts were added to extend the standard map based campaign throughout the whole year. In 2015, as part of the International Year of Light, two "International Nights of Skyglow Observation" were introduced, to encourage data submission in March and September.[28]

The number of observations for each year are reported on the Globe at Night webpage:[9]

Year Total Observations Notes
2006 3,990
2007 8,490
2008 6,838
2009 15,300
2010 17,805
2011 14,249
2012 16,848
2013 16,342
2014 20,910 Started including data from Loss of the Night & Dark Sky Meter Apps.
2015 23,041
2016 14,507
2017 15,382
2018 8,069
2019 10,198
2020 29,508
2021 25,558
2022 19,950


Spinoff research edit

Data from the Globe at Night program has also been used in a study of the effects of artificial lighting on the foraging habits of bats.[29]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d Fazekas, Andrew. . National Geographic. Archived from the original on January 22, 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
  2. ^ a b c Kyba, Christopher C. M.; Wagner, Janna M.; Kuechly, Helga U.; Walker, Constance E.; Elvidge, Christopher D.; Falchi, Fabio; Ruhtz, Thomas; Fischer, Jürgen; Hölker, Franz (16 May 2013). "Citizen Science Provides Valuable Data for Monitoring Global Night Sky Luminance". Scientific Reports. 3: 1835. Bibcode:2013NatSR...3E1835K. doi:10.1038/srep01835. PMC 3655480. PMID 23677222.
  3. ^ a b c d Walker, Constance; Stephen Pompea (3 November 2010). "Global campaign to save energy and fight light pollution". SPIE Newsroom. doi:10.1117/2.1201009.003213.
  4. ^ Rich, Catherine and Longcore, Travis (2006). Ecological consequences of artificial night lighting. Island Press. ISBN 978-1-55963-128-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Navara, KJ; Nelson (2007). "The dark side of light at night: physiological, epidemiological, and ecological consequences". J Pineal Res. 43 (3): 215–224. doi:10.1111/j.1600-079X.2007.00473.x. PMID 17803517.
  6. ^ Cinzano, P.; Falchi, F.; Elvidge, C. D. (2001). (PDF). Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 328 (3): 689–707. arXiv:astro-ph/0108052. Bibcode:2001MNRAS.328..689C. doi:10.1046/j.1365-8711.2001.04882.x. S2CID 15365532. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-08-19.
  7. ^ Gallaway, Terrel; Olsen, Reed N.; Mitchell, David M. (2010). "The economics of global light pollution". Ecological Economics. 69 (3): 658–665. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2009.10.003.
  8. ^ a b "Globe at Night - Home page". Globe at Night. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
  9. ^ a b "Globe at Night - Analyze". Globe at Night. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
  10. ^ a b "Globe at Night Family Activity Packet". Globe at Night. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
  11. ^ . Archived from the original on 2013-07-06. Retrieved 2013-04-29.
  12. ^ NASA Education Office. "Join the Worldwide Globe at Night 2012 Campaign". spaceref.com. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  13. ^ a b c d Weaver, Harold F. (1947). "The Visibility of Stars Without Optical Aid". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 59 (350): 232. Bibcode:1947PASP...59..232W. doi:10.1086/125956.
  14. ^ a b Beatty, Kelly. "Make the Effort for "Globe at Night"". Sky & Telescope. Archived from the original on 2 February 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
  15. ^ "Globe at Night - Magnitude Charts Orion 40 deg N". Globe at Night. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
  16. ^ . National Science Foundation. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  17. ^ "Globe at Night webapp". Globe at Night. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
  18. ^ "Globe at Night Interactive Map viewer". Globe at Night. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
  19. ^ Kyba, Christopher C. M.; Ruhtz, Thomas; Fischer, Jürgen; Hölker, Franz (2011). "Cloud Coverage Acts as an Amplifier for Ecological Light Pollution in Urban Ecosystems". PLOS ONE. 6 (3): e17307. Bibcode:2011PLoSO...617307K. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0017307. PMC 3047560. PMID 21399694.
  20. ^ Garstang, R. H. (October 1991). "Dust and light pollution". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 103: 1109–1116. Bibcode:1991PASP..103.1109G. doi:10.1086/132933. S2CID 121416771.
  21. ^ Westheimer, G (1 January 1965). "Visual Acuity". Annual Review of Psychology. 16 (1): 359–380. doi:10.1146/annurev.ps.16.020165.002043. PMID 14268891.
  22. ^ Broadfoot, A. Lyle; Kendall, Kenneth R. (1 January 1968). "The Airglow Spectrum, 3100-10,000 A". Journal of Geophysical Research. 73 (1): 426–428. Bibcode:1968JGR....73..426B. doi:10.1029/JA073i001p00426.
  23. ^ James, J. F.; Mukai, T.; Watanabe, T.; Ishiguro, M.; Nakamura, R. (1997). "The morphology and brightness of the zodiacal light and gegenschein". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 288 (4): 1022–1026. Bibcode:1997MNRAS.288.1022J. doi:10.1093/mnras/288.4.1022.
  24. ^ Gittings, Neil S.; Fozard, James L. (1986). "Age related changes in visual acuity". Experimental Gerontology. 21 (4–5): 423–433. doi:10.1016/0531-5565(86)90047-1. PMID 3493168. S2CID 31284535.
  25. ^ Walker, CE; Pompea SM; Sparks RT (2010). "Dark Skies From the Ground Up: Before, During and After Globe at Night". ASP Conference Series. Earth and Space Science: Making Connections in Education and Public Outreach. 433.
  26. ^ Spoelstra, H. "Dark Skies Awareness: Sky Brightness Nomogram". Retrieved 14 March 2012.
  27. ^ Walker, CE; Pompea SM; Isbell D (2007). "GLOBE at Night 2.0: On the Road Toward IYA 2009". ASP Conference Series. EPO and a Changing World: Creating Linkages and Expanding Partnerships. 389: 423. Bibcode:2008ASPC..389..423W.
  28. ^ Kyba, Christopher (9 February 2015). "Help measure how the night sky is changing". International Year of Light Blog.
  29. ^ Barringer, D; Walker, C. E.; Pompea, S. M.; Sparks, R. T. (2011). "Astronomy Meets the Environmental Sciences: Using GLOBE at Night Data". Earth and Space Science: Making Connections in Education and Public Outreach. 433: 373. Bibcode:2011ASPC..443..373B. Retrieved 15 March 2012.

External links edit

  • Official website
  • International Dark-Sky Association
  • Conversion of NELM into other units 2020-11-12 at the Wayback Machine

April 11, 2024
globe, night, international, scientific, research, program, that, crowdsources, measurements, light, pollution, night, time, periods, within, each, year, project, asks, people, count, number, stars, that, they, from, their, location, report, project, website, . Globe at Night is an international scientific research program that crowdsources measurements of light pollution in the night sky At set time periods within each year the project asks people to count the number of stars that they can see from their location and report it to the project s website The coordinating researchers compile this information to produce a public freely available map of global light pollution By September 2011 almost 70 000 measurements had been made 1 The use of data collected by the public makes the program an example of citizen science 2 Globe at Night began as a NASA educational program in the US organized by the NOAO and was expanded internationally during the 2009 International Year of Astronomy 3 it is an offshoot of the GLOBE Program which focuses on school based science education Globe at NightArtificial lights showing the locations of light pollution in October 2012 KeywordsLight Pollution Astronomy Scotobiology Citizen Science CrowdsourcingFunding agencyNational Science Foundation via NOIRLabObjectiveMeasuring and raising awareness of artificial light pollutionProject coordinatorAURA Connie WalkerPartnersInternational Dark Sky Association CADIASDuration2006 WebsiteOfficial website Contents 1 Scientific rationale 2 Method 3 Accuracy of measurements 4 Conversion of measurements into other units 5 History 6 Spinoff research 7 See also 8 References 9 External linksScientific rationale edit nbsp Artificial lights attract many insects to the advantage of some spiders as on this lighted bridge over the Loire River France These changes in behavior can then affect food webs and cause further knock on effects Light pollution the introduction of artificial light into formerly dark ecosystems has numerous adverse ecological effects Exposure to artificial light can prove fatal for some organisms e g moths that fly into a burning flame can interrupt a life cycle phase for others e g glowworms are unable to attract mates and can reduce the possibilities for finding food because of increased risk of predation 4 Light at night can also interfere with the chronobiology of many animals including humans through suppression of melatonin secretion 5 There are also cultural and economic reasons for concern about excessive light at night Skyglow prevents large fractions of the Earth s population from viewing the Milky Way 6 which drove the development of much of ancient science mythology and religion In the US the cost of generating wasted light is estimated to be 7 billion US dollars per year 7 the production of the electricity for this wasted light also results in the release of chemical pollution and greenhouse gases The Globe at Night project has two main goals raise public awareness of light pollution and its effects and provide global mapping data for light pollution 1 8 9 Method edit nbsp The visibility of the constellation Orion varies depending on the observer s local level of light pollution clear sky is on left light polluted sky is on right Note that the photo at left shows more detail than can be seen with the human eye The project asks members of the public to go outside on dark moonless nights and report how many stars are visible in particular constellations 1 3 The project focuses on students teachers and families and has produced activity packets in 13 languages 3 10 NASA encourages students in its INSPIRE program to participate 11 Participating individuals are asked to go outside on specified dates at least an hour after sunset then let their eyes adjust to the ambient light level and observe a specific constellation Orion or Leo in the Northern Hemisphere Crux in the Southern Hemisphere 8 10 12 The choice of a two week span of dates near the new moon removes any effect on sky brightness from scattered moonlight and observing well after sunset prevents any lingering light from twilight 13 By comparing the stars they see with star charts showing stellar visibility under different light pollution conditions they qualitatively measure light pollution 14 15 Stellar visibility can also be measured for the project using a Sky Quality Meter a tool used by amateur astronomers 14 These light pollution data are then submitted to the coordinating website via a web browser 16 17 The assembled data are provided to researchers and the public via a mapping interface that displays the data overlaid on Google Maps 18 With this technique observers are reporting a naked eye limiting magnitude NELM between 1 and 7 Humans are able to observe stars below 7th magnitude although this may require blocking out other sources of light 13 Under clear unpolluted skies the measurement of NELM should be strongly correlated with the level of light pollution Other factors particularly those that reduce the seeing can reduce NELM 13 atmospheric water content especially clouds 19 atmospheric aerosols such as dust or air pollution 20 visual acuity of the observer 21 wind can cause stars to twinkle and render dim stars invisible aurora airglow 22 gegenschein and Zodiacal light 23 age of the observer 24 Presence of the Milky Way 13 Globe at Night also distributes teaching kits that demonstrate how fully shielded lights reduce glare and improve the visibility of the night sky 3 25 Accuracy of measurements edit nbsp When Globe at Night observations are averaged together they are very strongly related to the sky brightness in the location This is a single panel from this image The standard deviation of an individual Globe at Night observation is approximately 1 2 stellar magnitudes 2 Due to the law of large numbers when the observations are considered in aggregate the errors from individual observations cancel each other out leading to very stable mean values This means that Globe at Night observations could be used to estimate global or regional trends in sky luminance 2 Conversion of measurements into other units editGlobe at Night observations identify the dimmest stars that are visible given the surrounding conditions Assuming normal visible acuity and clear skies it is possible to approximately convert Globe at Night naked eye limiting maximum estimates into other units 26 NELM Visible stars mcd m2 mag arcsec21 10 160 14 62 30 60 15 63 80 20 16 64 250 8 17 85 800 3 19 06 2 500 0 8 20 47 7 000 0 2 22 0History edit nbsp Locations of Globe at Night observations from 2009 2011 The Globe at Night project was launched as a NASA program in the United States 1 The project quickly expanded internationally and was part of the outreach effort of the International Year of Astronomy in 2009 27 The size of the project in terms of number of observations expanded dramatically in that year In 2014 the project expanded to also include data obtained via the Loss of the Night app for Android devices and the Dark Sky Meter app for iOS devices In addition new star charts were added to extend the standard map based campaign throughout the whole year In 2015 as part of the International Year of Light two International Nights of Skyglow Observation were introduced to encourage data submission in March and September 28 The number of observations for each year are reported on the Globe at Night webpage 9 Year Total Observations Notes2006 3 9902007 8 4902008 6 8382009 15 3002010 17 8052011 14 2492012 16 8482013 16 3422014 20 910 Started including data from Loss of the Night amp Dark Sky Meter Apps 2015 23 0412016 14 5072017 15 3822018 8 0692019 10 1982020 29 5082021 25 5582022 19 950Spinoff research editData from the Globe at Night program has also been used in a study of the effects of artificial lighting on the foraging habits of bats 29 See also editBortle Dark Sky Scale Connie Walker astronomer Earth Hour Ecological light pollution History of street lighting in the United States International Dark Sky Association List of astronomical societiesReferences edit a b c d Fazekas Andrew GLOBE at Night Helping to Save the Night Sky National Geographic Archived from the original on January 22 2012 Retrieved 25 January 2012 a b c Kyba Christopher C M Wagner Janna M Kuechly Helga U Walker Constance E Elvidge Christopher D Falchi Fabio Ruhtz Thomas Fischer Jurgen Holker Franz 16 May 2013 Citizen Science Provides Valuable Data for Monitoring Global Night Sky Luminance Scientific Reports 3 1835 Bibcode 2013NatSR 3E1835K doi 10 1038 srep01835 PMC 3655480 PMID 23677222 a b c d Walker Constance Stephen Pompea 3 November 2010 Global campaign to save energy and fight light pollution SPIE Newsroom doi 10 1117 2 1201009 003213 Rich Catherine and Longcore Travis 2006 Ecological consequences of artificial night lighting Island Press ISBN 978 1 55963 128 0 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Navara KJ Nelson 2007 The dark side of light at night physiological epidemiological and ecological consequences J Pineal Res 43 3 215 224 doi 10 1111 j 1600 079X 2007 00473 x PMID 17803517 Cinzano P Falchi F Elvidge C D 2001 The first world atlas of the artificial night sky brightness PDF Mon Not R Astron Soc 328 3 689 707 arXiv astro ph 0108052 Bibcode 2001MNRAS 328 689C doi 10 1046 j 1365 8711 2001 04882 x S2CID 15365532 Archived from the original PDF on 2006 08 19 Gallaway Terrel Olsen Reed N Mitchell David M 2010 The economics of global light pollution Ecological Economics 69 3 658 665 doi 10 1016 j ecolecon 2009 10 003 a b Globe at Night Home page Globe at Night Retrieved 14 March 2012 a b Globe at Night Analyze Globe at Night Retrieved 14 March 2012 a b Globe at Night Family Activity Packet Globe at Night Retrieved 14 March 2012 EINSPIRE Communication Archived from the original on 2013 07 06 Retrieved 2013 04 29 NASA Education Office Join the Worldwide Globe at Night 2012 Campaign spaceref com Retrieved 15 March 2012 a b c d Weaver Harold F 1947 The Visibility of Stars Without Optical Aid Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 59 350 232 Bibcode 1947PASP 59 232W doi 10 1086 125956 a b Beatty Kelly Make the Effort for Globe at Night Sky amp Telescope Archived from the original on 2 February 2013 Retrieved 25 January 2012 Globe at Night Magnitude Charts Orion 40 deg N Globe at Night Retrieved 14 March 2012 NSF Current Newsletter March 2012 National Science Foundation Archived from the original on 10 March 2012 Retrieved 15 March 2012 Globe at Night webapp Globe at Night Retrieved 14 March 2012 Globe at Night Interactive Map viewer Globe at Night Retrieved 14 March 2012 Kyba Christopher C M Ruhtz Thomas Fischer Jurgen Holker Franz 2011 Cloud Coverage Acts as an Amplifier for Ecological Light Pollution in Urban Ecosystems PLOS ONE 6 3 e17307 Bibcode 2011PLoSO 617307K doi 10 1371 journal pone 0017307 PMC 3047560 PMID 21399694 Garstang R H October 1991 Dust and light pollution Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 103 1109 1116 Bibcode 1991PASP 103 1109G doi 10 1086 132933 S2CID 121416771 Westheimer G 1 January 1965 Visual Acuity Annual Review of Psychology 16 1 359 380 doi 10 1146 annurev ps 16 020165 002043 PMID 14268891 Broadfoot A Lyle Kendall Kenneth R 1 January 1968 The Airglow Spectrum 3100 10 000 A Journal of Geophysical Research 73 1 426 428 Bibcode 1968JGR 73 426B doi 10 1029 JA073i001p00426 James J F Mukai T Watanabe T Ishiguro M Nakamura R 1997 The morphology and brightness of the zodiacal light and gegenschein Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 288 4 1022 1026 Bibcode 1997MNRAS 288 1022J doi 10 1093 mnras 288 4 1022 Gittings Neil S Fozard James L 1986 Age related changes in visual acuity Experimental Gerontology 21 4 5 423 433 doi 10 1016 0531 5565 86 90047 1 PMID 3493168 S2CID 31284535 Walker CE Pompea SM Sparks RT 2010 Dark Skies From the Ground Up Before During and After Globe at Night ASP Conference Series Earth and Space Science Making Connections in Education and Public Outreach 433 Spoelstra H Dark Skies Awareness Sky Brightness Nomogram Retrieved 14 March 2012 Walker CE Pompea SM Isbell D 2007 GLOBE at Night 2 0 On the Road Toward IYA 2009 ASP Conference Series EPO and a Changing World Creating Linkages and Expanding Partnerships 389 423 Bibcode 2008ASPC 389 423W Kyba Christopher 9 February 2015 Help measure how the night sky is changing International Year of Light Blog Barringer D Walker C E Pompea S M Sparks R T 2011 Astronomy Meets the Environmental Sciences Using GLOBE at Night Data Earth and Space Science Making Connections in Education and Public Outreach 433 373 Bibcode 2011ASPC 443 373B Retrieved 15 March 2012 External links editOfficial website International Dark Sky Association Conversion of NELM into other units Archived 2020 11 12 at the Wayback MachinePortals nbsp Society nbsp Astronomy nbsp Stars nbsp Spaceflight nbsp Outer space nbsp Solar System nbsp Education nbsp Science Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Globe at Night amp oldid 1186067365, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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