We think that dark and starry skies are a special part of our countryside. Nothing beats looking upwards to see velvety blackness, with twinkling constellations as far as the eye can see.
Our buildings and streetlights emit light, though, and this can affect our view of truly dark skies. We want to make sure that we can all enjoy starlit nights, and we need your help in measuring what effect light is having on our views of the galaxy.
The best way to see how many stars we can all see in the sky is… to count them! So we’re asking people from all across the country to become citizen scientists and look heavenwards from home for one night. Join in by choosing a clear night between 6-14 February 2021, looking up at the constellation of Orion and letting us know how many stars you can spot.
This year we’re asking everyone to take part from home. You can stargaze from your garden, balcony, doorstep or even bedroom window.
Don’t worry: we’ll give plenty of support on how to do this. Once you’ve done your star-spotting, we’ll share a form with you where you can quickly and easily send us your count – and then we get busy with our number-crunching.
