Wishing on Shooting Stars on August 10: Save our Night Sky from Light Pollution In an effort to promote awareness for our starry sky and grow awareness for light pollution, a global star event, International Starry Night, has been announced. The event, which celebrates our distant friends in the sky, will be held on the 10th of August and will coincide with the Perseid Meteor shower, another reason to celebrate. The international event will also kick off Starlight Week in the state of Illinois. To celebrate International Starry Night, Astronomers from Los Angeles to Romania are celebrating in fun ways: The Central Arkansas Astronomical Society is hosting a “Star-B-Q”, which will be held at the River Bridge Observatory in Bigelow. In Phoenix, a similar event will celebrate the meteor shower with a potluck dinner. Chicago’s Adler Planetarium and amateur astronomical societies around the world are joining together to participate. Astronomers are hoping such events will grow appreciation for our sparkling assets and are seriously concerned with the level of light pollutants in the night sky; The National Park Service Study estimates that as soon as 2025, 90 per cent of people living in the USA will never be able to see the starry, sparkling night sky. International Starry Night hopes to increase awareness of this fact, and wishes to instil a level appreciation of our night sky amongst all generations. Along with the Starlight Initiative and with the support of UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere program, International Starry Night is being organized by One Star at a Time, an organization dedicated to protecting our night sky and ensuring it can be enjoyed for future generations; the organisation has established programmes including “One Star at a Time.” This imitative hopes to establish parks free of artificial night light so that the stars can be enjoyed – even in urban areas. If you would like to learn more about the International Starry Night, check out starry-night.org/starry-night. Here, you can look for events in your region, learn how to participate or even find out how you can get involved to show your support.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Jul 2013 12:18:42 +0000