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How Clearly Can You See the Night Sky?
Seeing in the Dark, a new film by Timothy Ferris, astrophotographer and producer of the Voyager phonograph record, meditates on stargazers and the objects they observe. Watch an excerpt from the program below:
Light pollution prevents many people from seeing stars where they live. As Andrew Fraknot explains on the Seeing in the Dark site, "when a massive power outage struck southern California in the 1990s, Los Angeles residents reportedly called 911 to express alarm about strange clouds hovering overhead; they were seeing the Milky Way for the first time."
What can you do?
Here's a list of approved residential lighting approved by the International Dark-Sky Association: http://www.darksky.org/lighting/fixtures/residential-lighting.php
Point lights in the direction you want to illuminate and set timers to conserve energy.
A local star chart will help you identify objects; customize your chart here and watch the "how to" videos to learn more about successful stargazing.
What do you see in the sky where you live?
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Light Pollution in Manhattan
I went to school in rural Minnesota - moving from Manhattan - and became acutely aware of the problem of light pollution there. Despite of blessing of absolute darkness, the college couldn't manage to use non-light pollution causing fixtures, ruining some views from the campus telescope. I'm glad there are those out there trying to raise awareness around this haze that threatens our awareness of the beauty and splendor of the night sky!
I interested in getting into amature astronomy
Hi I'm intersted in amature astronmy and want to know if there is anyone who is willing to share there knowledge to get me started and be a pen pal. I have no experience and simply wish to explore this amazing field of study. Where do I start?
Thanks, Earl Frazier
earlfrazier12@yahoo.com
Correction
I found myself reading the article "How Clearly Can You See The Night Sky" and I saw that you quoted "when a massive power outage struck southern California in the 1990s, Los Angeles residents reportedly called 911 to express alarm about strange clouds hovering overhead; they were seeing the Milky Way for the first time." This quote was given by Andrew Fraknoi, not Andrew Fraknot. I am sure it doesn't make much of a difference, but if somebody wanted to look further into what he was saying they would be looking under the wrong name. If I were not student of his I would have definately been content with the last name Fraknot, but it almost rang a bell when I realized what it should be. I am sure he would be happy about that.