GLOBE at Night Reaches More Than 18,000 Participants on Six Continents(Forwarded)

Office of Public Affairs and Educational Outreach
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
Tucson, Arizona

For More Information:

Douglas Isbell
Office of Public Affairs and Educational Outreach
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
Phone: 520/318-8214

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, April 24, 2006

RELEASE NO: NOAO 06-08

GLOBE at Night Reaches More Than 18,000 Participants on Six Continents

More than 18,000 citizen-scientists in 96 countries submitted 4,591
observations of the darkness of their local night skies during the
10-day GLOBE at Night event last month.

The GLOBE at Night Web site received data from all 50 U.S. states and
from every continent except Antarctica (where the constellation used for
the project was not visible!) At least 399 of the participants were
under age 12, with another 949 between the ages of 12-14 years old.

"The geographic reach of the GLOBE at Night program exceeded our wildest
expectations," said Connie Walker, an astronomer and science education
specialist at the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), one of
the event's major co-sponsors.

Conducted during March 22-31, 2006, the international GLOBE at Night
program was designed to help students, families, and the general public
observe and record how the constellation Orion looked from different
locations, as a means of measuring the brightness of the sky at a
variety of urban and rural sites. The program was designed to aid
teaching about the impact of artificial lighting on local environments,
and the ongoing loss of a dark night sky as a natural resource for much
of the world's population.

"We fell a few hundred short of our target of 5,000 total observations,
but the engagement and excitement of large family groups, and dozens of
school children participating in the activity together, more than make
up for a few less data points," Walker said.

Participation was open to anyone -- anywhere in the world -- who could
get outside and look skyward in the early evening. Observers reported
their results online by comparing the number of stars they could see in
Orion with a set of template images on the program's Web site, which
showed the number of stars in the constellation for a range of
visibilities from bright skies to very dark.

At least 18,084 people participated in the program, according to
self-reporting forms on the GLOBE at Night Web site. "This number was
likely much larger, given that our form gave an option only for 'more
than 25 people' and we've heard reports of individual events with 50
participants or more," said Kirsten Meymaris, the GLOBE at Night Project
Coordinator. More than 750 people have signed up to receive updates via
the program's electronic mailing list.

"Truly innovative and a real eye opener for many of my young students,"
was a typical comment from one teacher who conducted the program.

Scientific analysis of the GLOBE at Night data set has begun, including
cooperation with experts in analysis of worldwide satellite data related
to artificial lighting. Initial results will be reported at upcoming
meetings of the American Geophysical Union and the American Astronomical
Society.

Preliminary mapped results can be explored individually using the GLOBE
at Night Map Viewer, built with support from ESRI. A student exploration
Guide for the Map Viewer and other ESRI mapping tools will be available
soon at this Web page for directed investigations of the GLOBE at Night
data.

"The observations made during GLOBE at Night will help students and
scientists together assess how the quality of the night sky varies
around the world, and how it is affected by artificial lighting and
light pollution from poor lighting fixtures," said Stephen Pompea,
astronomer and manager of science education at NOAO. "Given the
widespread interest in the inaugural GLOBE at Night event, we are eager
to offer it again in 2007."

For more information, see the program's Web page,
http://www.globe.gov/GaN/
or contact globeatnight @ globe.gov or outreach @ noao.edu .

GLOBE at Night is a collaboration between The GLOBE Program in Fort
Collins, CO; the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) in
Tucson, AZ; Centro de Apoyo a la Didactica de la Astronomia (CADIAS) in
Chile; Windows to the Universe; and Environmental Systems Research
Institute, Inc. (ESRI).

The National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) consists of Kitt Peak
National Observatory near Tucson, AZ; Cerro Tololo Inter-American
Observatory near La Serena, Chile; and, the NOAO Gemini Science Center,
the route for U.S. astronomers to observe with the Gemini North
telescope in Hawaii and the Gemini South telescope in Chile. NOAO is
operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy
Inc. (AURA), under a cooperative agreement with the National Science
Foundation.

IMAGE

Plot of North American GLOBE at Night observations,
http://www.noao.edu/outreach/press/p...ages/NoAmC.jpg (803KB)