Welcome to the 9th European Symposium for the Protection of the Night Sky!
The 9th European Symposium for the Protection of the Night Sky takes place from September 17th - 19th 2009 in Armagh, Ireland. The Symposium will deal with the issue of light pollution, its effects on the environment, health, and astronomy and examine how bad lighting is contributing to global climate change.
Latest News
Friday Morning - The Environmental, Social and Medical Implications of Light Pollution
Thursday, 14 January 2010 20:19
The Environmental, Social and Medical Implications of Light Pollution ( pdf ) Graham Cliff (University of Manchester) and Colin Henshaw (Tabuk, Saudi Arabia) Light pollution as a problem has been intensifying over the past forty or fifty years, but only now have the consequences of the problem become to be appreciated. It is a serious problem that requires urgent resolution, and this paper serves to highlight that problem, emphasize its effects and look towards a solution.
Friday Morning - Light Pollution in the Netherlands
Thursday, 14 January 2010 20:13
Light Pollution in the Netherlands: Inventories and Movements in Dutch Policy ( pdf ) Dorien Lolkema and D.P.J. Swart (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, The Netherlands) The Netherlands is one of the brightest night-time areas on Earth. This year (2009), national policy on light pollution and protection of the night sky will be formulated. Meanwhile, local government is taking its stand in this political arena on night-time lighting. Diverse inventories are and have been carried out concerning night-time light emission. This presentation will give an overview of these inventories and on movements in Dutch policy concerning light pollution.
Dr. Constance Walker talks about the Globe at night Project.
Globe at Night: An International Citizen-Science Program to Measure Night-Sky Brightness. Involvement, Outcomes and Sustainability ( pdf ) Dr Constance E. Walker (U.S. National Optical Astronomy Observatory [NOAO]), Steve Pompea (NOAO), David Smith (UCAR), Tom Baker (ESRI), David Orellana (CTIO), Hugo Ochoa (CTIO) and Kim Patten (IDA)) GLOBE at Night is an international citizen-science event encouraging everyone to measure local levels of light pollution and contribute the observations online to a world map. This program is a centerpiece of the Dark Skies Awareness Global Cornerstone Project for the International Year of Astronomy. Its goal is to raise public awareness of the impact of artificial lighting on local environments by getting people involved. Data collection and online reporting is simple and user-friendly. During a 2-week campaign in each spring, citizenscientists take data on light pollution levels by comparing observations with stellar maps of limiting magnitudes toward the constellation, Orion. For more precise measurements, citizen-scientists use digital sky brightness meters. During the campaign period over the last 4 years, 35,000 measurements from 100 countries have been logged. The collected data is available online in a variety of formats and for comparison with data from previous years. We will discuss how the data has been used, provide information to become community advocates, and mention future plans for analysis with other data sets. We will also discuss lessons learned, best practices and plans during the next campaign. For more information, visit http://www.globe.gov/GaN/.
Dragon's Egg Review On Friday 18 September boys and girls from Mount St. Catherine's Primary School, Armagh, have surprised the participants of the International Symposium "Light Pollution and its Impact" at the Market Place Theatre with a live performance of music, poetry, art and dance. The children's contribution, "The Dragon's Egg", involved an innovative collaboration between members of the Armagh Rhymers (Dara Vallely, Peter Shortall, Steve Lally, John McAllister), staff from Mount St. Catherine's Primary School (Anne Hart, Brenda Campbell and Briege Delaney) and astronomer Miruna Popescu, coordinator of the International Year of Astronomy in Ireland. The students wrote poems about stars and light pollution on the back of the "Conjunction over Armagh" postcard that were handed to the symposium participants as a welcoming to Armagh. But the biggest "surprise" was a musical and dancing performance during Friday's lunch break. The children also displayed their paintings inspired by the night sky, created during the UNAWE Astro-Art Fun workshop and released black balloons decorated with constellations. Support from the Republic of Ireland's "Discover Science and Engineering" (DSE) programme for running the Astro-Art Fun workshop is gratefully acknowledged.
On Friday 18 September boys and girls from Mount St. Catherine's Primary School, Armagh, have surprised the participants of the International Symposium "Light Pollution and its Impact" at the Market Place Theatre with a live performance of music, poetry, art and dance. 