Citizen Science for Super Pi DayFor those of us who write our dates as month/day/year, 3/14/15 is ep
Citizen Science for Super Pi DayFor those of us who write our dates as month/day/year, 3/14/15 is epic. 3.1415 is the first 5 digits of pi, leading the date to be dubbed “Super Pi Day”. Want to celebrate? How about participating in a citizen science project right at 9:26pm, the next 3 digits of pi!The United Nations has declared 2015 to be the International Year of Light. While light benefits science, culture, and everyday life, there is a downside – light pollution. While the problem of light pollution is well-documented, a scientist wants to know if we are making it better or worse as we incorporate light emitting diodes (LEDs) into our street lighting.This is where citizen scientists come in. On 3/14/15 at 9:26pm, the researcher would like us to collect data on how dark our night sky is. The hope is that we will enjoy it so much that we’ll want to participate in future data collections once per month, thereby supplying many scientists with long-term light pollution data.If you want to participate, you’ll need to get away from street lights and find a spot where you can easily see a large portion of the night sky. Give your eyes at least 10 minutes to adjust to the darkness. Then, at 9:26pm, make your observations. The type of observation will depend on which of 3 possible methodologies you decide to use. Learn more about the project from this website: http://bit.ly/1AkJTN7. Then use the links provided there (also below under “Be a Citizen Scientist”) to either download one of the two free apps to your smartphone or to reach a website where you can log your observations online.If it is cloudy, you can wait for a clear night and submit your data through March 20.This citizen science endeavor is not new and the data is made available for more than just the LED research. It seems one clever researcher has simply decided to combine his project with Super Pi Day in hopes of generating more data. Let’s celebrate Super Pi Day by gifting him and other scientists with data about light pollution!- REPhoto Credit: Unknown – if you have any information on who first created this widely-used image, please tell us in the comments to we can give proper credit.Be a citizen scientist: http://www.globeatnight.org/http://www.darkskymeter.com/http://lossofthenight.blogspot.com/ -- source link
#pi day#march 14#citizen science#dark sky#night sky#light pollution#research#scientist