Dark Sky Observation
This citizen science project is a way to contribute YOUR observations to a star counting project. This gives us a way to compare locations and even create a dark sky map.

It's a good idea to read through all of the information below before you start so that you know what you'll need. In short, you'll look through a tube and count stars when the sky is dark (at least an hour after sunset when the moon isn't out). You can do this in your backyard. And, you can also do this from other locations and submit this form multiple times. This would be a good way for you to see firsthand how the star counts change from location to location. You might start to think about why this would be.
Sign in to Google to save your progress. Learn more
Instructions
On a clear, dark night, go outside at a location of your choice -- your backyard is great -- and count the stars! Instead of counting all of them, however, you will count them as you look through a toilet paper tube. After your eyes are adjusted to the dark, hold the tube to your eye and point it in a random direction and count how many stars you can see in that part of the sky. This is a sample of the sky. Do this 8 times, each time pointing in a different, random part of the sky. Write down your counts so that you can record them here when you go back inside. You should also have some information about your location, which can be recorded in multiple ways.
What is the date of your observation? *
MM
/
DD
/
YYYY
What is the time of your observation? *
Time
:
Location information
We can build a map of all observations if we know where your observation was from. You can use your zip code, which gives us a rough idea of where you are, an address or approximate address that we can look up, or a more precise map location with latitude and longitude. To get your latitude and longitude, to to Google Maps, location your place on the map and click on it so that it "pins" this location, and then copy the latitude and longitude numbers. They will look something like "41.193828, -111.942943" if you're in the United States, where the first number is the latitude (positive for the northern hemisphere) and the second number is the longitude (negative for the western hemisphere).

If you don't know your exact location, do the best you can. You can leave these blank, but providing at least one piece of information will help.
Example of a map location. The "pin" is the gray circle with the white marker, and the latitude and longitude are shown at the bottom in the pop-up box.
What is the zip code from where you're observing (if you know it)?
What is the approximate street address and city from where you're observing (if you know it)?
This is optional, and you don't need to reveal your exact address. For example, you can input "1300" for your street address if your exact street address is "1274".
What is the Latitude for your observing location?
This provides the most precise way of describing our data if you have it.
What is the Longitude for your observing location?
This provides the most precise way of describing our data if you have it.
Star count #1 *
Star count #2 *
Star count #3 *
Star count #4 *
Star count #5 *
Star count #6 *
Star count #7 *
Star count #8 *
Any other notes or observations to add?
Summary
In the next box, you can submit your email to get updates about this project, including how your own data compares to other locations. Remember that you can also get your own location's approximate star count by:
1. Adding up your 8 counts all together, and then
2. multiplying that sum by 9 (assuming you use a toilet paper tube, because this factor describes how much of the sky you were sampling with this device).

For comparison, if you had a completely dark sky and well-adjusted eyes, you could be able to see almost 5000 stars with the unaided eye. How did your measurement compare? How do you think it would be different in different locations? (You should try other places and submit that observation here, too!)

You can also do more research on dark skies and light pollution. A good place to start is here:
https://www.darksky.org/light-pollution/measuring-light-pollution/
where the International Dark Sky Association provides other information and tools for doing more star counts. They also describe why this is an important issue -- but you might think about this yourself before you read more.
Give us an email address for follow-up information, if you'd like.
Double check your email to make sure it's correct!
Submit
Clear form
Never submit passwords through Google Forms.
This form was created inside of weber.edu. Report Abuse
Google Forms