Drop #202 (2023-02-17): Weekend Project Edition

Look! Up In The Sky!

Most of these WPEs encourage some fairly unhealthy sedentary behaviors like: “Here, go sit and read through this giant set of unfamiliar resources, then sit some more to do something with them.”

Today we mix it up a bit, while still being tech/science-y focused, and propel you head first into meatspace. My goal/hope is for one or both of today's resources to become a habit for each reader. Each may connect you with a bigger community who all are focused, in some way, on being more observant of the world around us, and using the knowledge gained from these observations for the greater good.

I've tried to keep the barriers to entry very low, so none of these requires any investment outside your time and energy (which, alone, is alot to ask for in these dark times). However, each can be augmented with DIY or purchasable items that will augment the experience.

NOTE: If you're in a hurry, you can avoid the expository and look the 👋 to get to each resource directly.

A Globe, Darkly?

Let me borrow a bit from a highly curated (by humans!!) knowledge resource to introduce the topic of this section: light pollution.

Light pollution is the presence of unwanted, inappropriate, or excessive artificial lighting.In a descriptive sense, the term light pollution refers to the effects of any poorly implemented lighting, during the day or night. Light pollution can be understood not only as a phenomenon resulting from a specific source or kind of pollution, but also as a contributor to the wider, collective impact of various sources of pollution.

It should be unsurprising that we top-of-the-food-chain inhabitants of the Anthropocene Epoch are the primary cause of light pollution. The fires we burn and the lights we ignite all contribute to that eerie horizon glow you likely see at night.

Even up here in moderately rural Maine (above, approximate location), light pollution diminishes the viewable star field, disrupts the circadian rhythms of birds and beasts alike, and even disturbs our human sleep patterns. You have to pretty far away from civilization to escape the light.

👋 That image is from the Light Pollution Map. The brighter the area in the pan+zoomable map, the harder it is to see stars and constellations in the night sky. You can also interact with it in 3D.

Why am I depressing you?

👋 Well, we don't have to accept the status quo, and you can become part of a growing movement to help scientists understand the real scope of light pollution via the Globe at Night project.

The Globe at Night program is an international citizen-science campaign to raise public awareness 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. Light pollution threatens not only our “right to starlight”, but can affect energy consumption, wildlife and health. More than 200,000 measurements have been contributed from people in 180 countries over the last 14 years, making Globe at Night the most successful light pollution awareness campaign to date!

Throughout the year, the Globe at Night folks have specified measuring periods where you can help make a real difference just by going outside and jotting some information down.

It's super easy to contribute.

• During the campaign dates, go outside more than an hour after sunset (8-10 pm local time). The Moon should not be up. Let your eyes become used to the dark for 10 minutes before your first observation.

• Use a night sky app on your phone outside to find the constellation from where you are.

• Go to the Globe at Night Report page to start to enter Globe at Night measurements. Make sure you are in “Nighttime version”

• With a smartphone, the app will put in the date, time, location (latitude/longitude) automatically. Otherwise, please type them in. For your location, type the street address closest to your observation along with the city, state, or province and country.

• Choose the star chart that looks most closely to what you see toward your constellation. That is, what is the faintest star you can see in the sky and find in the chart?

• Select the amount of cloud cover at the time of observation and then click on the “Submit Data” button.

👋 The reporting site is easy to use, and if you have some spare coin and are a gadget nerd, you can level up your contributions by acquiring a sky quality meter (SQM). It's not “cheap” but it's also not “expensive”, but I'm content kickin' it old school for the readings.

If you have kids, this could be a great way to get some time — outdoors! — with them, and give them a new perspective on the planet. Kid-less folks could even turn this into a monthly observation party with some pals.

I close by noting that you're just in time to catch a few of the February observation dates, so de-screen and look up!

🛰️ Satellite(s) of 💙

In the not too distant future,
Just look up and see the sky.
If you want to spot a satellite,
Here's a handy guide, so don't be shy!

First, find a spot with no streetlights,
A clear view of the heavens high.
Wait until the sun sets and darkness descends,
Now's the time to give it a try!

Look for a steady moving light,
Gliding smoothly through the air.
It's not a plane, not a shooting star,
But a satellite up there!

They travel in straight lines across the sky,
In a west to east direction, most of the time.
Some move faster than others,
But it's an easy view, not a climb!

The International Space Station's a popular sight,
As bright as Venus, you can't miss its light.
Hubble, Envisat, and other sats,
Are visible too, with just a glance!

So, there you have it, a quick guide,
To spotting satellites in the sky.
Just keep your eyes peeled, stay patient and try,
It's a sight to see, we don't deny!

👋 I confess our old pal ChatGPT made that MST3K-esque ditty

¹

, but it sums up a decent chunk of the information at Visual Satellite Observer's (VSO) Home Page oddly well, and was mildly entertaining.

VSO goes has tons of accessible content on how to get started tracking satellites (with or without gear), so I won't expound much further.

The previous section wanted you to help deal with light pollution. We've directly polluted the sky with our own space garbage in the form of human-made satellites. You may have been following the semi-recent StarLink kerfuffle, but we've been making things more difficult for earthbound pro and amateur astronomers for quite some time by launching tiny (and large) bits of metal into space.

Rather than bemoan the space junk, why not help identify and track it!

👋 Firstly, I will encourage you to bookmark Space Track since you can use that to help guide you. Sure, there are mobile device and desktop apps that can paint the pictures of what should be up in the sky, but I'm specifically encouraging you to go out with virtually no technology (just what you need for safety). Whenever we get out past the human-made glow when at a national park and/or camping, It's truly remarkable what your crazy cool human senses can pick up without the aid of technology.

👋 Lastly, I'll send you over to CelesTrak as a companion to VSO, so you can start with the easier to identify non-UFOs and strengthen your observation muscles, making it much less painful to find the smaller ones.

FIN

If you did don some proper gear and head into the great outdoors to try your hand at sky gazing, drop a note in the comments to encourage others! ☮

1. I mean, if Colin Meloy can do it…