Oberserving the stars is becoming more and more diffucult due to the
increasing sky brightening due to artificial lights. But not only
astronomers notice the bright night sky. Many people only know the
starry sky from their vacations. Bad ligthing is a waste of energy,
is a safety and security risk du to glare and endangeres nocturnal
animals.
A UNIQUE EXPERIMENT
Its goal is the worldwide determination of the present night sky
visibility conditions based on simple astronomical observations that can be
donewith the naked eye and within minutes. The success of the experiment
depends on obtaining as many observations as possible from as many locations
as possible: that means your contribution!
The date are collected and analysed by the
the
Verein Kuffner-Sternwarte
and the
Institut für Astronomie der Universität Wien.
HOW TO HELP AND PARTICIPATE!
Oberservers in the northern hemisphere:
We have selected two constellations for the experiment. Both are easy
to find on the night sky. For observations north of roughly 30 degrees
(spain, turkey, arizona) the Little Dipper (Ursa Minor) is especially
well suited, because it is visible all night an throughout the year.
During the winter months a second constellation is very
practical for the determination of the night sky visibility conditions. It
is the constellation of Orion. Orion is easier to locate on the
sky because of its three conspicuous belt stars.
As a results observers can chose between two constellations and/or
compare the results between the two constellations.
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Wieviele Sterne sehen wir über Wien?
Flash-Animation
Earth at Night
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Ursa Minor
Orion
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Orion was also selected because the belt stars can
be seen worldwide (but not year round), except for areas close to
the north and south poles, where only parts of the constellation
are visible.
Observers in the southern hemisphere:
To determine the night sky visibility conditions in the southern
latitudes we selected the constellation of Orion. It is very
easy to find --- the three belt stars are probably the easiest to find
on the night sky. The only drawback is that it is not visible for the
entire year and during some months only during parts of the night.
We were not able to find a constellation like the Little Dipper, easy to find
and visible all year, on the southern skies.
With our home in the north we would be thankful for suggestions from the
south.
FINDING CHARTS and more information on the
visibility of the constellations!
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