The next meeting of the Pittsburgh section of the International Dark-Sky Association will be Tuesday, October 1 from 6:30 - 8 pm at Allegheny Observatory on the Northside in Riverview Park. No membership, dues or reservations necessary and free parking.
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Dark Skies Book Signing
Announcing a reading/signing event on Wednesday, the 11th of September in 7316 Wean Hall at Carnegie Mellon University from 4:30 - 6 pm for Triangulation: Dark Skies, a themed anthology.
Edited by Diane Turnshek (CMU Physics) and Scotland author Chloe Nightingale, the anthology contains speculative fiction stories about stars and light pollution, the unnecessary artificial light at night that robs us of the stars and adversely affects Earth's nighttime ecosystem. Misdirected light wastes billions of dollars a year, while raising our carbon footprint. Studies of even low levels of light at night show that it may be harmful to human health. See how 21 genre authors incorporated starlight into their stories!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1082094439/ref=rdr_ext_tmb
$17.00 paperback, $2.99 e-book
Hear a brief update on the Metro21 nighttime city mapping project (https://www.cmu.edu/metro21/news-and-events/metro21-podcast-diane-turnshek-talks-light-pollution-and-the-night-sky.html) and then listen to a reading by Dark Skies author Mary Soon Lee, one of the world's premier astronomy poets. Mary Soon Lee was born and raised in London, but now lives in Pittsburgh. She writes both fiction and poetry, and has won the Rhysling Award and the Elgin Award. Her work has appeared in Analog, Daily Science Fiction, F&SF, Science, and Strange Horizons. Her book Elemental Haiku, containing haiku for each element of the periodic table, is forthcoming from Ten Speed Press on October 1, 2019. She has an antiquated website at www.marysoonlee.com and tweets at @MarySoonLee.
Samples of Mary’s work can be seen here:
Elemental Haiku https://vis.sciencemag.org/chemhaiku/
"How to be a Star" https://uppagus.com/poems/soon-lee-star/
"How to Thank the Earth" https://uppagus.com/poems/soon-lee-thank/
"New Year's Resolutions" http://www.sfpoetry.com/sl/edchoice/42.1-1.html
"How to Seduce Apophis" http://www.abyssapexzine.com/2019/01/how-to-seduce-apophis/
Triangulation: Dark Skies is free (only during the month of September) for anyone who might want to review it.
https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/172678
Help Diane #ProtecttheNight
Information from Diane:
The International Dark-sky Association has a pledge that will double all donations in this Protect the Night Campaign. They asked some of us why we support the organization and I answered the question on my own personal fundraising page. I wrote pages and pages about a few of the projects we have done here in Pittsburgh and how the IDA has helped on every one. I am so overwhelmingly grateful for all they do. Supporting them is supporting us in our efforts to save the dark. I'm off to a good start, won't you consider keeping it rolling?
https://darksky.salsalabs.org/protectthenight-social/p/dianeturnsheksdarkskiespage/index.html
Join us at Carnegie Science Center on July 20th and 21st at Carnegie Science Center!
On July 20th and 21st between 10AM and 5PM, the Carnegie Science Center is hosting Space out! Astronomy Weekend. This coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing! We will be there educating visitors about light pollution, and our need to dim the lights to bring back the moon as the brightest object in the night sky. Stop in and say hello!
Next IDAPgh Meeting:
Dark Skies Conference: 10 - 4 pm on Saturday, June 1 in the Simmons Auditorium A and B in the new Tepper Quad on Forbes Ave at CMU, 5000 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
This one-day, free conference on light pollution will feature expert speakers from the civic sector and scientific researchers in astronomy, lighting design, biology and medicine, a documentary screening and a sign-up for free e-copies of the SF/F/H anthology Triangulation: Dark Skies!
**FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC**
REGISTER AT https://events.mcs.cmu.edu/darkskies2019/
(Free Parking and Free Lunch with Registration)
Facebook event page with more details:
https://www.facebook.com/events/2364190690305331/
Join us to learn about the consequences of indiscriminate, obtrusive, unwanted, artificial light at night. Research on the effects of low levels of light on the nighttime ecosystem is exposing negative impacts on plants and animals. Light pollution impacts astronomical research. The wasted energy of sending light into the sky contributes to anthropogenic global warming. The inability of 80% of the population in the US to see a clear night full of stars may have far-reaching consequences that are as yet difficult to quantify.
CMU researchers are using drones to record light pollution before, during, and after installation of 40,000 new LED streetlights to measure their dark-sky effect. Cities around the world have already installed LED streetlights because of the great energy and maintenance savings, yet many citizens have not been happy with the results. Issues of light coloration and lumen intensity have raised health and circadian rhythm concerns, as well as safety issues due to increased light levels and glare. To achieve best-practices for both nighttime visibility and dark-sky concerns, the City will be installing shielded streetlights with temperatures of no more than 2700K.
Use of a fleet of off-the-shelf drones (Mavic 2 Pro) and a free iPhone app to control the flight path for photography will allow other cities to follow our simple procedure. The nighttime maps of the city (all 55 square miles) will be uploaded to the public site Burgh’s Eye View. We are coordinating volunteers through IDAPgh.org, the Pittsburgh section of the International Dark-sky Association.
The conference will consider the human medical effects of artificial light at night, disruption on the nighttime ecosystem, safety issues, and impact on astronomical research.
Tentative Schedule:
10:00 AM Welcome
10:05 AM Movie Screening: Saving the Dark
11:00 AM LED Lights in Urban Design and City Planning with Steve Quick
11:30 AM City of Pittsburgh Smart Streetlight Project with Santiago Garces
12:00 PM Lunch (provided free of charge with registration)
12:50 PM A Reading From Triangulation: Dark Skies with Mary Soon Lee
1:00 PM International Dark Skies Association Talk with Bettymaya Foott
1:30 PM Nighttime Light and Your Health with Dr. Brant Hasler
2:00 PM Nighttime Visibility Talk with Michael Wood-Vasey
2:25 PM A Reading From Triangulation: Dark Skies with Jamie Lackey
2:30 PM Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh Talk with Chris Mullen
3:00 PM Surveying Light Pollution Using Drones with Mike Lincoln
3:30 PM Q&A
Saturday, April 27, 2019, 6:00 pm at Wagman Observatory, 3ap.org, 225 Kurn Rd, Tarentum, PA 15084
(Rain or shine, free parking. An Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh star party follows, if clear.)
We will be using drones to record light pollution before, during, and after installation of 40,000 new LED streetlights to measure their dark-sky effect. Cities around the world have already installed LED streetlights because of their great energy and maintenance savings, yet many citizens have not been happy with the results. Issues of light coloration and lumen intensity have raised health and circadian rhythm concerns, as well as safety issues due to increased light levels and glare. Research on the effects of low levels of light on the nighttime ecosystem are turning up negative impacts on plants and animals. Our research is intended to assist the City with real-time information about how the new fixtures are performing and how they might be controlled for to achieve best-practices for both nighttime visibility and dark-sky concerns.
Volunteers are welcome to join at any point in the research project-- all skills needed.
In order to make a procedure that can be followed by other cities, we are using a fleet of off-the-shelf drones (Mavic 2 Pro) and a free iPhone app to control the drone flight path and photography. The final nighttime map of the city (all 55 square miles) will be uploaded to the public site Burgh's Eye View. We are coordinating volunteers through IDAPgh.org, the Pittsburgh section of the International Dark-sky Association.
Drone pilot and watcher training is scheduled for Sunday, April 28, 12-6 pm in Margaret Morrison Hall at CMU, room 103. Drone watcher training will only take the first two hours of that time. Mike Lincoln is running this FAA-required training. The rest of the afternoon is for teaching for people to pass the FAA drone pilot test. If interested, write me for some pre-meeting reading material that may help. (dianeturnshek@gmail.com)
The project team meets every Wednesday 6:30 - 8:00 pm in Wean 7423, CMU. The group that has been meeting is mostly grad students and roboticists who will be reducing the data. But anyone with an interest in the drone light pollution project is welcome to join us.
Steve Quick (School of Architecture), co-I on the Metro21 grant, will be speaking about the drone project at the Carnegie Science Center at 7:30 pm on May 10 at the free, open, public AAAP meeting.
To stay informed of this and other astronomy activities in Pittsburgh, sign up for monthly newsletters at PghConstellation.com.
--Test sites of the new bulbs on Margaret Morrison Drive at CMU starting in May.
--Test drone flights as weather and moon permit throughout May and June.
(These events are free and open to the public.)
Next three IDAPgh.org meetings scheduled!
2:00 pm on Saturday, March 9 at Community Forge in Wilkinsburg. (17" telescope!) 1256 Franklin Ave, Wilkinsburg, PA 15221, parking lot located on the east side of the building. -
6:00 pm on Saturday, April 27 at Wagman Observatory, 3ap.org
10 - 4 pm on Saturday June 1 in the Simmons Auditorium in the new Tepper Quad at CMU, one day conference on light pollution (All these are free and open to the public.)
Triangulation: Dark Skies update: We need more light pollution stories! 4 cents a word to 5000-word maximum, Deadline for submission Feb 28, but we are seriously short on science fiction, fantasy and horror stories about light pollution. We have seen plenty featuring dark skies as interpreted as “outer space.” Bring it down to Earth!
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The January meeting of the International Dark-sky Association was held at 6:30 pm on Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019 at Allegheny Observatory in Riverview Park.
Free meeting, open to the public, no dues, no membership in the International Dark-sky Association required (but maybe consider it?). Free parking. Updates on the drone project and the Triangulation anthology. We talked about the City of Pittsburgh lighting ordinances, astronaut ISS photos of Pittsburgh, LLC paperwork and the new star party season of the AAAP. We can see the Allegheny Observatory All-sky Camera in action. The new IDA calendar is out including Michael Lincoln’s astrophotography of Pittsburgh as February 2019!
(Notice of upcoming IDAPgh.org meetings will be announced in the monthly PghConstellation.com newsletter. Sign up on the website.)
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The December meeting of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the International Dark-sky Association (IDA) was held at 6:30 pm on Wednesday, December 12, 2018, Danforth Conference Room in the Cohon University Center at Carnegie Mellon University (5000 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15213).
No dues, no registration, open to the public. Please join us for a review of the IDA and Artificial Light at Night meetings in Salt Lake City in November and updates on all our projects.
Park for free after 5 pm in the East Campus Garage on Forbes Ave. Take a ticket at the entrance, then put it back in afterwards, when you leave.
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The October meeting of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the International Dark-Sky Association was held at 6:30 pm on Monday, October 22, 2018, Connan Room in the Cohon University Center at Carnegie Mellon University.
The City of Pittsburgh plans to begin changing streetlights to LEDs in 2019. In the works? A new Metro21 grant at CMU to make a light pollution map of Pittsburgh, before, during and after the installation using UAVs.
We’ll also continue discussion of our various projects:
education and public outreach
local astrophotography
new IDAPgh website
comparisons of the sky in Pittsburgh from long ago until now
creation of attractive content for our social media (Facebook)
membership coordination
City Council meeting attendance (Schedule)
radio interviews of members
children’s light pollution book
analysis of eight years of Allegheny Observatory All-Sky camera data (to put a number to the increase of light pollution in the city)
taking nighttime data of Pittsburgh uplights with a weather balloon (possibly with Pitt Shadow Bandits)
ISS astronaut photos of Pittsburgh at night
using phone apps to measure skyglow all over the city (Dark Sky Meter for iPhone users, Loss of Night for Android users)
asking an astronaut to visit Pittsburgh and speak about what the night side of Earth looks like from above (Request Guidelines)