GLOBE at Night 2020

[Christopher K.]

The weather hasn't been the best recently, but NOAA is saying we'll have some good skies in the early evening tonight and tomorrow night. Just in time! As many people are staying home and/or self-quarantining, the GLOBE at Night exercise is a perfect fit for these situations. It allows families and individuals to become citizen scientists and contribute to the possibility of bringing back a natural sky for kids throughout the Baton Rouge area.

Here are the instructions for tonight and tomorrow night:
*Go out at 8:45pm to get your eyes acclimated to the darker environment. This will help you obtain better data.
*At 9pm, look at either the constellation Orion (about halfway up the sky in the southwest) or the constellation Gemini (right above Orion) and study the star patterns for a couple of minutes.
*Access the interactive GLOBE at Night reporting form, which is very user-friendly...
https://www.globeatnight.org/webapp/
Report which image of the constellation matches most closely the number of stars you saw. Choose your location from the interactive map, provide any notes regarding outside lights and clouds and you're done! The Activity Guide for each constellation has an optional paper form to record your observation while still outside.

Your report will be placed on the master data map as a colored dot. People like HRPO personnel, city planners, public works officers, students majoring in the STEM fields, parks administrators, STEM-field teachers and skygazing enthusiasts all can use this data to eradicate light pollution and give all of us a better view of the heavens from home--even when we're not stuck at home!

The beautiful GLOBE at Night 2020 Postcard:
https://www.globeatnight.org/resources/ ... stcard.pdf

The 2020 Orion Activity Guide:
https://www.globeatnight.org/resources/ ... nglish.pdf

The 2020 Gemini Activity Guide:
https://www.globeatnight.org/resources/ ... nglish.pdf

The website also has a sky simulator to help you practice finding constellations before you take a measurement. If you use it, remember to set the altitude to thirty degrees north.

[Christopher K.]

Hey, don't worry if you missed out this month. The GLOBE at Night exercise takes place during every New Moon cycle. The next opportunities will occur from 14 April to 23 April. Then, the constellation Leo will be used...
https://www.globeatnight.org/finding/leo
http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/Sow/leo-p.html

The Leo GLOBE at Night exercise will be reviewed for eight- to twelve-year-olds during HRPO's next planned Science Academy on Saturday 18 April. This session, entitled "Spring Day", occurs every April and includes circuit board construction and a STEM-oriented game. The time is from 10am to 12pm; registration takes place through WebTrac...
http://hrpo.lsu.edu/programs/academy.html

[Christopher K.]

The next GLOBE at Night will occur from 14 May to 23 May. Both Leo and Boötes are listed as targets for this session's measurements; apparently the citizen scientist can choose...
https://www.globeatnight.org/finding/bootes
http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/boo-p.html
Even though Boötes contains the brilliant Arcturus, Leo is a much more noticeable shape.

When nightfall comes Thursday night (about 9:25pm CDT) Leo will be about seventy degrees up in the southwest and Boötes will be about fifty degrees up in the east.

[Christopher K.]

The next GLOBE at Night will occur from 13 June to 22 June. For this session's measurements the citizen scientist can choose either Hercules...
https://www.globeatnight.org/finding/hercules
http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/her-p.html
...or Boötes as his target constellation...
https://www.globeatnight.org/finding/bootes
http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/boo-p.html

When nightfall comes during this time period (about 9:50pm CDT at the latest) Hercules will be about fifty-five degrees up in the east and Boötes will be virtually at zenith (overhead).

[Christopher K.]

The next GLOBE at Night will occur from 12 July to 21 July. For this session's measurements the citizen scientist can choose either Hercules...
https://www.globeatnight.org/finding/hercules
http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/her-p.html
...or Boötes as his target constellation...
https://www.globeatnight.org/finding/bootes
http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/boo-p.html

[Christopher K.]

HRPO personnel are setting a goal of 100 GLOBE at Night measurements within the facility's declared service area: seventy-five kilometer radius from the two OGS domes. Help HRPO make this goal a reality!

[Christopher K.]

The next GLOBE at Night will occur from 10 August to 19 August. For this session's measurements the citizen scientist can choose either Hercules...
https://www.globeatnight.org/resources/ ... nglish.pdf
http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/her-p.html
...or Cygnus as his target constellation...
https://www.globeatnight.org/resources/ ... nglish.pdf
http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/cyg-p.html

Last count for our service area is about eight measurements. We have a way to go, but 100 before 1 January is still doable.

[Christopher K.]

The next GLOBE at Night will occur from 9 September to 18 September. For this session's measurements the citizen scientist should use Cygnus...
https://www.globeatnight.org/finding/cygnus
http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/cyg-p.html

BRAS is working "in the background" on a multi-year plan to bring dark skies back to the local area. Announcements and first tasks will take place this fall.

[Christopher K.]

The next GLOBE at Night will occur from 7 November to 16 November. Both Pegasus and Perseus are listed as targets for this session's measurements...
https://www.globeatnight.org/finding/pegasus
http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/pegasus-p.html
Even though Perseus contains the wonderful variable Algol, Pegasus is a much more noticeable shape.

When nightfall comes on Saturday the 7th (6:34pm CST--we'll be back on Real Time!) the Great Square of Pegasus will be about sixty-two degrees up in the east.

[Christopher K.]

The next GLOBE at Night will occur through 15 December. Perseus is the listed target. At nightfall tonight Perseus sits right on top of Auriga in the northeast.