GAM Dark Skies Awareness Programs

Babak
Image Credit: Babak Tafreshi (TWAN)

The growing loss of dark, starry night skies for much of the world's population is a serious issue, but one that can be easily addressed. And it's not just astronomical research that suffers. Light pollution affects human health, ecology, safety, security, economics, and energy conservation. According to the United Nations more than half of the world's population live in cities. More than three quarters in those cities have never seen the Milky Way, because of the light pollution where they live. The ability to view a starry night sky has inspired human kind for millennia. If we do not help solve the problem, our source of inspiration will subtly fade away. Is this the legacy we want to leave future generations? We can actually do something locally to help globally. We invite you to get involved in these Dark Skies Awareness Programs during Global Astronomy Month and beyond.

In short, the GAM Dark Skies Awareness programs are intended to raise awareness of the importance of preserving our dark, starry night skies and in the process, mitigating light pollution. To encourage people to participate, we have an array of enjoyable activities. For those interested in gorgeous starry night skies and the visual affects of light pollution, we have the International Earth and Sky Photo Contest. For those who would like to take easy night sky brightness measurements monitoring light pollution levels for scientists, you are invited to participate in the Globe at Night citizen-science campaign. For those who want to learn more about light pollution issues and how you can easily solve them, you are invited to take part in the International Dark Sky Week.

We also encouraged everyone to share their experiences with the world on Facebook  and Tweet using #GAM2017 (@gam_awb).

April 6-15, 2018 Join the Worldwide Globe at Night 2018 Campaign What would it be like without stars at night? What would we lose? Starry night skies have given us poetry, art, music and the wonder to explore. A bright night sky affects energy consumption, health, and wildlife. The Globe at Night program is an international citizen-science campaign to raise public awarene ss of the impact of light pollution by inviting citizen scientists to measure their night-sky brightness and submit their observations from a computer or smart phone. Students and scientists use the data to monitor levels of brightness or...

April 15-22, 2018 Celebrate the stars! Created in 2003 by high-school student Jennifer Barlow, International Dark Sky Week (IDSW) has grown to become a worldwide event and a key component of Global Astronomy Month. The goals of IDSW are to appreciate the beauty of the night sky and to raise awareness of how poor-quality lighting creates light pollution.