Happy Astronomy New Year

Welcome to the new year of 2012.

Astronomically speaking, what does that really mean?

A year is a term we use to denote the movement of the Earth around our Sun. It takes approximately 365 days for the Earth to return to the point in space from where it started the last time we marked Jan 1 on the calendar. I said approximately because it actually takes a few hours longer so every four years we need to add an extra day to make up for the difference. That will happen this year.

t’s also an easy way to remember that there will be a US Presidential election (and my anniversary).

Since it’s a new year and we often make resolutions for ourselves to do, or not do, things, why not make this the year you become a Citizen Scientist. It’s an especially good project to do as a family.

What is a Citizen Scientist? You will be amazed. We have become such a technological society that we are gathering data at an incredible rate. The problem is, we don’t have enough people to review, analyze and report the findings. That’s where the public is making a difference. In some areas, the public is asked to actually gather the data because the human eye is still better than a computer in some things. Hooray for humans!

You’ll find several astronomy ones at this website. There are many, many others which you can find on the internet so search around for Citizen Science. I found out recently that someone I know counts dragonflies. There’s a local Long Island organization which counts horseshoe crabs. The list goes on and on.

Here’s a good one to start with. It only takes a few minutes and has to do with why we can’t see so many stars in urban areas. We are relying on the public to help us map the light pollution around the world in a project called Globe at Night. They need us to go outside, 9-10 p.m., and count the stars in the vicinity of the constellation Orion, the hunter.

This is probably the easiest constellation to find in the winter sky since it is made up of very bright stars. Don’t worry; they even give you a star chart to help you find it. What do you need to do? Simply count how many stars you see using their charts as a reference. Can you only see one? Maybe five or six? Maybe you’re lucky enough to be in an area where they are so many stars you just can’t count them all. Wouldn’t it be nice if the sky looked like that for all of us? After you take your observation, you go to their website, find your location, and record the number of the chart corresponding to the number of stars which you observed.

This activity will go on from Jan. 14 through Jan. 23. There will be several more opportunities through the year for you to make observations. The reason for the limited time frame is due to the appearance of the Moon which has an effect on the amount of stars which can be seen.

What is light pollution by the way? It is the indiscriminate shining of lights up into the sky instead of actually where you want and need the light. Pilots really don’t need the street lights. In fact, it can inhibit them from finding airports in the dark. But, we need light on the roads and sidewalks don’t we? If we used the correct light fixtures, we could have our light and protect the night sky at the same time. In fact, by not wasting all that light by shining it upwards, we could use lower wattage bulbs, save money on electricity and burn less fuel so we’d be cutting down on air pollution as well.

Any light fixture where you can see the bulb from a distance or has a glass dome underneath, shines light into the sky. If it has a flat glass on the bottom, the light only goes where the fixture is pointed. That also means that drivers won’t be blinded by the glare, thereby reducing accidents. Wow! Is there any downside to preventing light pollution? Yes. The electric companies will lose income.

What is done with the information? It allows the scientific community to go to the government and show them the effects of light pollution by location in hopes that they will be persuaded to do something to change it. (I didn’t even tell you about the harmful effects on nocturnal animals, bird flight patterns and your own much needed sleep!) You can use the information in the same way. It’s available on the website.

So, will you join me in becoming a Citizen Scientist? Take as many observations as you can during the designated dates and make the proper recordings. YOU CAN make a difference.

For more astronomy activities, see my club website at www.aosny.org.