|
International Dark-Sky Association
Night Watch
|
|
|
Join Our List
|  |
|
Hot off the Press
| |
nv News - 13 August 2012
The Perseid meteor shower 2012 has proved to be a treat for stargazers as dark and clear skies offered a delightful light show at night...
By Uncage the Soul Productions, Vimeo - December 2011
The Columbia River Gorge, Mt Hood, Mt Jefferson, the Southwestern Coast, the Alvord Desert, Leslie Gulch, Blue Mountains, Crater Lake, and more.
By Andrew Holman, Vimeo - 13 August 2012
If you missed the meteor shower because of the bright city lights watch them streak over Mt Hood here!
IDA Press Releases (Click the Picture!)
|
|
|
| 17 August 2012 - Vol. 4 Iss. 10 |
| Breaking News | |
Call for Elections to Board of Directors
The Nominating Committee invites Director nominations from IDA members. Each nomination must include a CV or résumé and letter of support from ten IDA members. Qualified nominees will be interviewed by the Nominating Committee and must agree in advance to serve if elected.
Send all nominations and supporting materials via email to nomination@darksky.org with "Board Nomination" in the subject line before August 31st. Please include the name of the person you are nominating, your rationale for the nomination, and current contact information for the nominee so that the Committee can confirm his/her willingness to serve.
Acceptance of nominations will close on August 31st 2012.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Call for Nominations for IDA Awards!
Nominate a student, advocate, or lighting design for one of IDA's award.
Nomination period closes August 31st, 2012.
See the website for a list of awards, criteria, and past winners; as well as how to nominate an individual.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Gov. Snyder signs Dark Sky Coast Bill
Govenor Snyder of Michigan signs the Dark Sky Coast Bill of Petoskey on Thursday, August 9th, protecting nearly 21,000 contiguous acres of land in Northwest Emmet County. To read more about this exciting news, click here!
 The signing of the Dark Sky Coast Bill at Petoskey. L-R Tom Bailey, Executive Director Little Traverse Conservancy; Michigan's Governor Rick Snyder; Headlands International Dark Sky Park Program Director Mary Stewart Adams; 107th district state representative Frank Foster.
 Emmet County's Mary Adams, Dark Sky Park Program Director, gives a gift of stars over Michigan to Governor Rick Snyder at the signing of the Dark Sky Coast Bill in Michigan. Hear Mary Adams talk about the signing!
|
|
|
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DarkSky Giveaway Extended!
If your IDA membership will be valid on September 30, 2012 you are eligible for an online entry to Dark-Sky Giveaway for a set of Tele Vue Ethos Eyepieces (worth an estimated $5,665). Entries will be accepted until September 30, 2012. The winner will be announced at the Annual General Meeting on November 10th, 2012.
Not an IDA member? Please join.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IDA Annual General Meeting
Plans for the International Dark-Sky Association's Annual General Meeting (open to the public) are in the works!
When to expect it: November 10th - 11th
Where: Astronomy & Science Expo at the Tucson, AZ Convention Center
During this AGM invited speakers and experts will address dark-sky issues. IDA will also host a dark-sky workshop. Tickets for an IDA reception will be available at the IDA booth during ASAE for anyone that would like to attend.
Look for more details on our website & future e-News.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Astronomical Union and Light Pollution
This year at the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Conference in Beijing there will be a focus on the issue of light pollution.
Events include:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Facebook Raffle!
Enter the International Dark-Sky Association Facebook raffle! A simple click away, you get 1 entry for liking us on facebook and can achieve up to 64 entries by being an IDA member, following us on twitter, making a donation of $10 or more, or many other options. You can even enter every day by sharing the raffle post on your facebook page or tweeting about IDA!
The raffle prize includes 1-year free membership, a t-shirt, and a collection of IDA paraphernalia.
Raffle closes September 13th, 2012.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Social Media Expansion - Pinterest!
|
|
| Exciting Educational Tools! | |
SkyCube: The First Satellite Launched by You!
The first earth satellite developed, funded, and launched by amateur astronomers; and its purpose is one that we embrace deeply: to share an interest in, and love for preserving, the night sky.
For just $6 each anyone can commission images to be taken from SkyCube's camera and delivered directly to his or her mobile phone. Sponsors can also upload messages for SkyCube to broadcast from orbit, essentially "tweets" from space.
SkyCube will bring the issue of dark sky preservation to thousands, if not millions, of new eyes.
Sponsors, like you, will receive awards ranging from a single broadcast from space ($1) up to airfare for two to Florida next spring, to view, in person from VIP seating, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch with SkyCube aboard ($10,000). But time is limited: SkyCube's fundraising campaign ends September 12th, 2012. We enourage you to act quickly, and get your chance to explore the night sky from the other side.
Go to www.skycube.org to learn more about the project, or to send it to space yourself.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Classroom Astronomer Spectrum Viewers
The two Classroom Astronomer Spectrum Viewers are two-sided viewers designed by an astronomy teacher for ease in
determining energy efficiency of lighting and for
seeing and identifying element and molecular spectra from gas tubes.
for raising awareness of just how much energy your local lighting consumes as well as for education in or out of the classroom. Use it today to raise awareness of light pollution and energy waste while educating!
A product of The Classroom Astronomer Magazine
Purchase one today at only $9.50 or 10 for $85.
User Comments include:
"Comparisons are speedy."
"Viewing spectra...no eye strain."
"Easier to use than hand spectroscopes!"
or call 1-866-HERMOGRAPH (437-6647), Extension 1
|
| Dark-Sky Updates | | Wildlife
You choose where they go, Sea Turtle Animation An animation created by Sea Turtle Conservancy, Tour de Turtles, and meGotta
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the News
Installing field lights not a bright idea, some in Malibu say
By Melissa Leu, Los Angeles Times - CA, USA, 1 August 2012
"People who live here, live here to have dark skies and to have that lifestyle," said Winikoff, 49. Winikoff is one of numerous Malibu residents outraged by a years-long effort to install permanent lights at the local high school's athletic field and keep them on for as many as 61 nights a year - a move critics say would disturb the neighborhood's natural environment... Light Pollution - How to Mitigate Lecture by J. Kelly Beatty Bates College Museum of Art - ME, USA, 4 August 2012 Featuring a lecture on light pollution by J. Kelly Beatty at 6 p.m. on Friday, September 7, followed by and a reception in its groundbreaking exhibition, Starstruck: The Fine Art of Astrophotography, the Bates College Museum of Art celebrates the opening of a new academic year...The events are free and the public is welcome... 
Ocotillo Neighbors Suing Over Use of Construction Lights 10News.com - CA, USA, 7 August 2012 People in one Ocotillo neighborhood say they cannot sleep at night because of floodlights shining through their bedroom windows. Resident Parke Ewing is among six who are suing Pattern Energy for light pollution... LOOKING UP: Let stars light the night By Peter Becker, GateHouse News Service - PA, USA, 9 August 2012 The splendor of the night sky continues to unfold, interrupted only by clouds and light we send upwards, competing with star light coming down. The magnitude of our street lights, parking lot lamps, back yard lights and neon signs dazzle our eyes but they are nothing compared to the light output of just one star... Outdoor Light Pollution By EarthTalk, The Vindicator - 12 August 2012 This light blocks our view of the night sky and stars, creates glare hazards on roads, messes with our circadian sleep-wake rhythms, interrupts the patterns of nocturnal wildlife, and is by and large annoying. It also takes a financial toll: The federally funded National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) reports that poorly-aimed, unshielded outdoor lights waste $2 billion (17 kilowatt-hours) of energy in the U.S. each year... Ohio Hospital Cures Costly Outdoor Lighting, Delivers New GE LED Fixtures in Parking Lot equities.com - OH, USA In 2010, Stark County's largest hospital and employer launched a project to serve patients and staff with exceptional new parking lot and parking deck illumination. Evolve(TM) LED lighting systems from GE Lighting proved the right prescription. Onlookers are remarking on an "incredible difference," and Aultman found that it has delivered a healthy $13,000 annual energy cost savings to its campus... WEBCAST: Understand the BUG rating and MLO and RP-8 ramifications in outdoor lighting By Nancy E. Clanton, illumination in FOCUS - 21 August 2012 The Webcast will cover the backlight, uplight and glare (BUG) rating system for outdoor lighting that is increasingly used to specify maximum backlight, uplight, and glare levels for applications ranging from lighting on private property to roadways. Learn how LED luminaires can be designed and specified with compliant beam distributions. Register for the Webcast now! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Health Unplug! Too Much Light at Night May Lead to Depression By Dr. Mercola, FoodConsumer - 9 August 2012 When you climb into bed for the night, is your bedroom "littered" with dim light from streetlights, passing traffic, a computer, night-light or television set? Even if the light is so dim that you can easily sleep through it, light pollution can prompt biological changes that have a very significant, and potentially serious, impact on your physical and mental health... |
| International Dark-Sky Places Program | | |
By Nigel Thompson, Mirror - UK, 10 August 2012
Stargazing is one of nature's wonders that town and city dwellers tend to miss out on because of light pollution. Exmoor National Park in Devon was last year designated an International Dark Sky Reserve - the first in Europe and only the second in the world - but there are plenty of other spots for some constellation contemplation...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aspiring IDSP's
Astronomy club ready for Perseids meteor shower
By Toby Gorman, Nanaimo News Bulletin - BC, Canada, 5 August 2012
Members of Nanaimo's Dark Sky Project, a group of citizens interested in protecting the night sky from light pollution, are working in conjunction with the city to have Westwood Lake sanctioned as a Dark Sky Park by the International Dark-Sky Association...
Perseid Meteor Shower Attracts Hundreds to Mideast Deserts
By Brian Nitz, Green Prophet - Israel, 13 August 2012
Sky gazers traveled to Mitspeh Ramon, a town on the edge of the Ramon Crater in the Negev desert this weekend. Others followed onthegotours.com to Jordan's Mt Nebo, Madaba and Wadi Rum...The skies here are relatively free of clouds and air pollution and they are very dark. Dark enough to see the wispy remnants of a dying comet. The Perseid meteor shower appears reliably every year as the earth passes through the debris of Comet Swift-Tuttle in August...
AONB Applying for Dark Sky Status
Scilly Today - UK, 14 August 2012
After months of discussions with astronomers and Lifelong Learning staff, Scilly is applying for 'dark sky discovery' status. The Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is driving the application and their team has identified a site on each island, which they hope will meet the guidelines. |
| What are you Thinking? | |
A stargazer's ticket to the skies
By Kate Conway, Cape Cod Times - 10 August 2012
On a dark, clear night, Anthony Chapman of Orleans can be found sitting in the sloping hills of Fort Hill in Eastham, scanning the universe for beauty through the eyepiece of his large, Orion telescope. It is a fascination with the heavens that he acquired in the most hostile of places: Iraq...
Once There Was Night
By Bob Hartig, Stormhorn.com - MI, USA, 12 August 2012
Once there was such a thing as quiet in the countryside, and midnight skies, dusted with silver chips, that stretched their depths from horizon to horizon. But no more. Drive where you will, mile after mile, you cannot escape the taint of man-made light or the sounds of an obtrusive and increasingly uncivilized civilization.
|
Planned Giving - Gift planning is an exciting way to fulfill philanthropic goals. |
|
|
|
|
