![]() | This article needs to be updated.(October 2020) |
International Dark Sky Week | |
---|---|
Status | Active |
Genre | Astronomy-related events and competitions |
Frequency | Week of the new moon in April |
Location(s) | Worldwide |
Inaugurated | 2003 |
Founder | Jennifer Barlow |
Next event | April 2025 |
Website | https://www.darksky.org |
International Dark Sky Week (formerly the National Dark Sky Week) is held during the week of the new moon in April, [1] [2] when people worldwide may turn off their lights to observe the beauty of the night sky without light pollution. This event was founded in 2003 by high school student Jennifer Barlow of Midlothian, Virginia. [3] It has been endorsed by the International Dark-Sky Association, the American Astronomical Society, the Astronomical League, and Sky & Telescope . [4]
The goals of the event are to:
This event always occurs in April, during the week of the new moon so that the sky can be as dark as possible for optimum viewing conditions.
Jennifer Barlow states, "The night sky is a gift of such tremendous beauty that should not be hidden under a blanket of wasted light. It should be visible so that future generations do not lose touch with the wonder of our universe." Barlow explains, "It is my wish that people see the night sky in all of its glory, without excess light in the sky as our ancestors saw it hundreds of years ago." [4]
Willing participants in this project turn off all unnecessary lighting indoors and outdoors sources in order to reduce light pollution of the night sky.
The International Dark-Sky Association encourages light users to take precautions against outdoor light pollution by: [5]
Light pollution is a broad term used to define excess artificial light that brightens the night sky. Types of light pollution which include:
Light pollution is the adverse effects of artificial light. [8]
Affected parties of light pollution include: [9]
Astronomers:
By increasing the number of participants, the quality of viewing the sky and stars will be temporarily improved. This is of benefit to astronomers who are faced with light pollution issues such as light trespass and skyglow. [7]
Nocturnal wildlife:
Several animal species have been documented to be affected by light pollution. The glare of street lights causes distraction to nocturnal birds in flight, leading to bird crashes into sky scrapers and buildings. The use of light may also cause birds to reproduce or migrate too early. The feeding behavior of insects, bats, sea turtles, fish, and reptiles reflect alterations by artificial light. Sea turtles mistake the glow of electric lights for the shimmer of the ocean, leading them to flock outside of their nest into hazardous areas. [10]
Human circadian rhythm and sleep patterns:
Exposure to light during traditional sleeping hours are documented to cause disruptions in the circadian rhythm that regulate human sleep cycles. [9] Biologists have noted a decrease in the amount of melatonin, a natural hormone that regulates the Circadian rhythm, in humans that are exposed to light pollution of the night sky. [11] In order to prevent major impact, biologists suggest increasing the amount of natural light exposure during the day and decreasing the amount of electrical light consumed at night. [11]
Growth patterns of plants and trees:
The growing pattern of trees have been disrupted and less adjusted to seasonal changes in weather and light exposure. [9]
Waste of economic resources:
Leaving lights on that are not in use can lead to the waste of economic cost expenditures. Conservation and efficiency is necessary for environmental responsibility. [9] The invention of LED lights, dimmers, motion sensors and times have reduced the amount of energy used. [12]
Currently, there are no nationwide standards regarding light pollution. However, select cities across the United States and Canada are taking initiative to facilitate dark sky cities in order to reduce light pollution and view the night sky within city limits.
Sr. | Year | Week | New moon (UTC) | Notes | Reference |
1 | 2003 | 1 April | |||
2 | 2004 | 19 April | |||
3 | 2005 | 8 April | |||
4 | 2006 | 27 April | |||
5 | 2007 | 17 April | |||
6 | 2008 | 6 April | In 2008, the organizers coordinated the week with Earth Hour. | [2] | |
7 | 2009 | April 20–26 | 25 April | International Year of Astronomy (IYA 2009) In 2009, the United States Dark Sky Week becomes International Dark Sky Week | [13] [14] |
8 | 2010 | 13–14 April | [15] [16] | ||
9 | 2011 | 3 April | The world's first International Dark Sky City was founded in Flagstaff, AZ [17] [18] | ||
10 | 2012 | 21 April | |||
11 | 2013 | 10 April | |||
12 | 2014 | April 20–26 | 29 April | [19] | |
13 | 2015 | April 13–18 | 18 April | International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies (IYL 2015) | |
14 | 2016 | April 4-10 | 7 April | ||
15 | 2017 | April 22-28 | 26 April | The first day (April 22) corresponded with Earth Day. | |
16 | 2018 | 16 April | |||
17 | 2019 | March 31- April 7 | 5 April | ||
18 | 2020 | April 19-26 | 22 April | ||
19 | 2021 | April 5-12 | 12 April | ||
20 | 2022 | April 22-30 | 1 April, 30 April | ||
21 | 2023 | April 17-23 | 20 April | ||
22 | 2024 | April 2-8 | 8 April | A total solar eclipse took place on 8 April. |
Light pollution is the presence of any unwanted, inappropriate, or excessive artificial lighting. In a descriptive sense, the term light pollution refers to the effects of any poorly implemented lighting sources, 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.
Lighting or illumination is the deliberate use of light to achieve practical or aesthetic effects. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources like lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylight. Daylighting is sometimes used as the main source of light during daytime in buildings. This can save energy in place of using artificial lighting, which represents a major component of energy consumption in buildings. Proper lighting can enhance task performance, improve the appearance of an area, or have positive psychological effects on occupants.
Naked eye, also called bare eye or unaided eye, is the practice of engaging in visual perception unaided by a magnifying, light-collecting optical instrument, such as a telescope or microscope, or eye protection.
Observational astronomy is a division of astronomy that is concerned with recording data about the observable universe, in contrast with theoretical astronomy, which is mainly concerned with calculating the measurable implications of physical models. It is the practice and study of observing celestial objects with the use of telescopes and other astronomical instruments.
The Commission for Dark Skies (CfDS) is the United Kingdom's largest anti-light-pollution campaign group forming part of the international dark-sky movement.
Skyglow is the diffuse luminance of the night sky, apart from discrete light sources such as the Moon and visible individual stars. It is a commonly noticed aspect of light pollution. While usually referring to luminance arising from artificial lighting, skyglow may also involve any scattered light seen at night, including natural ones like starlight, zodiacal light, and airglow.
In astronomy, limiting magnitude is the faintest apparent magnitude of a celestial body that is detectable or detected by a given instrument.
The night sky is the nighttime appearance of celestial objects like stars, planets, and the Moon, which are visible in a clear sky between sunset and sunrise, when the Sun is below the horizon.
DarkSky International, formerly the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) is a United States-based non-profit organization incorporated in 1988 by founders David Crawford, a professional astronomer, and Tim Hunter, a physician and amateur astronomer. The mission of DarkSky is "to preserve and protect the night time environment and our heritage of dark skies through quality outdoor lighting."
The dark-sky movement is a campaign to reduce light pollution. The advantages of reducing light pollution include an increased number of stars visible at night, reducing the effects of electric lighting on the environment, improving the well-being, health and safety of people and wildlife, and cutting down on energy usage. Earth Hour and National Dark-Sky Week are two examples of such efforts.
Visible-light astronomy encompasses a wide variety of astronomical observation via telescopes that are sensitive in the range of visible light. Visible-light astronomy is part of optical astronomy, and differs from astronomies based on invisible types of light in the electromagnetic radiation spectrum, such as radio waves, infrared waves, ultraviolet waves, X-ray waves and gamma-ray waves. Visible light ranges from 380 to 750 nanometers in wavelength.
The Bortle dark-sky scale is a nine-level numeric scale that measures the night sky's brightness of a particular location. It quantifies the astronomical observability of celestial objects and the interference caused by light pollution. John E. Bortle created the scale and published it in the February 2001 edition of Sky & Telescope magazine to help amateur astronomers evaluate the darkness of an observing site, and secondarily, to compare the darkness of observing sites.
An LED street light or road light is an integrated light-emitting diode (LED) light fixture that is used for street lighting.
The New England Light Pollution Advisory Group (NELPAG) is a volunteer organization founded in 1993 to educate the public on the benefits of using efficient, glare-free outdoor night lighting. It is an affiliate of the International Dark-Sky Association. It is thought that the NELPAG hosted the first-ever website on light pollution, and it hosted the website of the International Dark Sky Association early on before the IDSA copied it over and developed at more fully, leaving the NELPAG website to continue on its own.
An astronomical filter is a telescope accessory consisting of an optical filter used by amateur astronomers to simply improve the details and contrast of celestial objects, either for viewing or for photography. Research astronomers, on the other hand, use various band-pass filters for photometry on telescopes, in order to obtain measurements which reveal objects' astrophysical properties, such as stellar classification and placement of a celestial body on its Wien curve.
Globe at Night is an international scientific research program that crowdsources measurements of light pollution in the night sky. At set time periods within each year, the project asks people to count the number of stars that they can see from their location and report it to the project's website. The coordinating researchers compile this information to produce a public, freely available map of global light pollution. By September 2011, almost 70,000 measurements had been made. The use of data collected by the public makes the program an example of citizen science. Globe at Night began as a NASA educational program in the US organized by the NOAO, and was expanded internationally during the 2009 International Year of Astronomy; it is an offshoot of the GLOBE Program, which focuses on school-based science education.
Hong Kong has been named the world's worst city for light pollution. Commercial and residential areas Mong Kok, Tsim Sha Tsui and Causeway Bay are found to be the most severe areas of light pollution. Due to the spotlights and LED billboards, Hong Kong’s sky is many times brighter than other cities.
The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light is a 2013 non-fiction book by Paul Bogard on the gradual disappearance, due to light pollution, of true darkness from the night skies of most people on the planet. Bogard examines the effects of this loss on human physical and mental health, society, and ecosystems, and how it might be mitigated.
The spectral G-Index is a variable that was developed to quantify the amount of short wavelength light in a visible light source relative to its visible emission. The smaller the G-index, the more blue, violet, or ultraviolet light a lamp emits relative to its total output. It is used in order to select outdoor lamps that minimize skyglow and ecological light pollution. The G-index was originally proposed by David Galadí Enríquez, an astrophysicist at Calar Alto Observatory.
Light pollution is the presence of unwanted artificial light that brightens the night sky. Improperly shielded lights are the source of many of the issues regarding the light pollution in Hawai'i. Urban centers in the cities are often so bathed in light that over a hundred kilometers from the city's edge, the light pollution resulting from the glow is present. Fabio Falchi is quoted as stating that “light pollution is one of the most pervasive forms of environmental alteration” due to its destructive nature in both un- and protected areas such as national parks. Dark night skies are an important natural, cultural, scientific, educational, and economic resource for Hawai‘i.