Go count some stars!

[Crusader]

This is specifically not posted under the science section because it might be ignored there, and the project is open to everyone - even if you aren't particularly interested in astronomy.

From 20 October to 3 November you can participate in the Great World Wide Star Count. Don’t worry you don’t need to count ALL of them. Here in the Southern Hemisphere, Sagittarius is the target - more importantly the "Teapot" within Sagittarius Depending on your hemisphere you’ll get a specific constellation to track down and to count the certain stars in the constellation. It’s extremely easy and fun to boot.

Visit the World Wide Star count website (http://www.windows.ucar.edu/citizen_science/starcount/index.html) and get your activity guide (http://www.windows.ucar.edu/citizen_science/starcount/GWWSC2008_ActivityGuide.pd). After you have completed your observation you’ll have to file a report on the site – the activity guide explains everything.

You’ll need to know your location, so those of you with a GPS can use it to good effect. If you don’t own a GPS an easy way to find your location is to use Google Maps (Google Earth) and zoom in on your home/observing spot.

There’s two main goals to the project. The first is to get people interested in the night sky and the second is to map and determine the effect of light pollution across the world.

Have fun and while you are at it you'll even be doing some “science”!

[Hot_Chocolate]

mmm, sounds interesting. doubt I'll get to count too many :( we have an industrial area just across the street from us with lots of extra lights

[bwana]

mmm, sounds interesting. doubt I'll get to count too many :( we have an industrial area just across the street from us with lots of extra lightsAccording to the op that's one of the points of the experiment - to measure light pollution. :)

[Crusader]

That's indeed the point. The less stars visible the more severe light pollution is. Last year they only had 2 contributions from SA so I'm hoping this post will lead to some more. At most it takes about 20 min of your time.

[DJ...]

Well I can't count fsckall at the moment - must be some prety bad pollution in JHB...:D

On a serious note, they would have to factor in weather conditions to make this accurate surely?

[The_Pumpkin_King]

WAIT!......................*looks left/looks right* what comes after 10?

[bwana]

That's indeed the point. The less stars visible the more severe light pollution is. Last year they only had 2 contributions from SA so I'm hoping this post will lead to some more. At most it takes about 20 min of your time.I'm game - and I'm sure the kids will have a blast even if they cant count very high yet :D

[Crusader]

Well you don't need to count much more than 10.

You only need to decide on one of the following:
Mag 1: No stars is visible in the teapot
Mag 2: Only one star visible in the teapot
Mag 3: Six stars visible in the teapot
Mag 4: All eight stars visible in the teapot
Mag 5: Three stars visible above the "spout"
Mag 6: Four stars visible in the body of the teapot
Mag 7: Too many to count.

Remember to give your eyes about 15 min to adept to the dark, and use a red flashlight when looking at the illustrations and completing the form.

Best time to observe would be between 20:00 - 21:00. The teapot is to the West almost straight up in the sky. If you can find Jupiter (second brightest object after Venus) then it's very easy to see the teapot, since Jupiter is close to it at the moment.
If you still struggle go grab a star map from www.starmaps.com - make sure to get the Southern Hemisphere one!

[Voldemort]

Eisch no sorry man, counting stars be like counting sheep for the ssssnake:(

"1...............1.........*snore*:o

[DDV TECH]

Sounds like fun, thanks. Like bwana says, it will make a nice family project.

[Crusader]

Well if it's not your thing you don't have to participate. Some people will actually find it kinda fun.

Just completed mine: Mag 6, but I think my eyes are in need of another checkup.

As an added bonus while waiting for my eyes to dark adapt I saw 2 meteors streak across the sky and one very bright satellite. Sometimes it pays to just look up! :P

[Crusader]

Ok, so far within the last 100 submissions there has been 2 from SA. One from myself and from someone in cloudy Pretoria.

[Lycanthrope]

Remember to give your eyes about 15 min to adept to the dark, and use a red flashlight when looking at the illustrations and completing the form.

*grin* I think you meant, "adapt" :p Adeptness is a measure of skill, ability or aptitude, the antonym of ineptness :)

<--- Is a pain :D

I've done it. Could only see two stars though, magnitude 2, I believe? Was kinda fun.. Took a while to orient myself :p

[Crusader]

*grin* I think you meant, "adapt" :p Adeptness is a measure of skill, ability or aptitude, the antonym of ineptness :)

<--- Is a pain :D

I've done it. Could only see two stars though, magnitude 2, I believe? Was kinda fun.. Took a while to orient myself :p

Oops typo. I'm functioning on 3 hours sleep so that might explain it. Saw your observation appearing on the result page. 2 stars would fall under magnitude 2 yes, but not because you could see only two. Mag 3 requires 4 stars to be visible.

Actually the whole thing has been cleverly designed according to the apparent magnitude of the stars. It starts out with the brightest stars and then slowly works it's way down to the faintest ones.

The first star they indicate has a apparent magnitude of 1.78. Then they add magnitude 3 stars then mag 4 stars. Followed by mag 5 stars and then mag 6+ for the last one. That's a bit too technical for the average person and you need to have a detailed star chart to figure it out.

Of course you could always try to see the faintest star visible, go look up it's apparent magnitude and then know what the limiting mag is, but their method is MUCH easier.

[Crusader]

Well I can't count fsckall at the moment - must be some prety bad pollution in JHB...:D

On a serious note, they would have to factor in weather conditions to make this accurate surely?

I'm sure they do.

For those who had clouds remember to do it again during clear skies in order to actually record a reading of the light pollution. You are also free to make multiple observations as long as you do it from different observation sites (preferably 1km from each other).

[Crusader]

There's one more week to go. So those who haven't done so should get their observations done within the coming week.

Just got my hands on the data they collected last year.
There was a total of 6 contributions from South Africans. 6 out of 6753 contributions (0.08%).

I'm definitely sure that if just a few members of Mybroadband takes the time we can get that to at least a full percent.

So here's my challenge to you. Regardless of where you are take 20 minutes out of your schedule and in the coming week go outside and do an observation. It really isn't difficult at all and the activity guide explains it in detail. When you submit your observation add "Mybroadband.co.za Observing Team" and when they release the data we'll see how many observations were made by members.

Light pollution will affect all of us as cities and towns continue to develop. Our children might never enjoy the wonder of staring up at the stars. Kids in the city are already severely affected since at most they can only see between 6 - 150 stars due to the severe light pollution. That's in comparison to roughly 14000 stars visible from a dark site!

[Crusader]

Just a friendly reminder that tomorrow is the last day for you to do an observation and submit your results. So if you have been planning to participate now is your last chance!

[Telkomisaloser]

Clouds....

[Tux]

Clouds....

ditto

[DDV TECH]

Just had rain

[Crusader]

Well it only finishes on the third so you guys could try again tomorrow. From the looks of it there will definitely be more SA contributions than last year.

[DDV TECH]

Thats good to know

[stoke]

Lol, welcome to KZN rainy season.

[Crusader]

For those of you who would be interested, the 2008 results are in.

There was 34 observations from South Africa and the average limiting magnitude in SA seems to be 4 (7 being best and 1 being worst), since most of the observations were made from cities where light pollution is pretty severe.