Every stargazer knows about light pollution in some fashion; even those in dark sky areas far away from artificial lights have to deal with periodic light from the Moon! But for most, light pollution is a constant night time presence, emanating from myriad artificial sources and obscuring views of the shared night sky. However, light pollution can be dealt with, and one of the first steps towards helping others create sensible lighting practices at night is education - and the NSN has a few great resources, developed with help from the International Dark Sky Association (IDA) and the National Optical AstronomicalObservatoy (NOAO).


Good Light, Good Night
Shielding lights improves our safety and visibility, along with improving our view of the night sky. Light pollution has health effects on animals, including people! Find out more about how proper shielding on lights can benefit everyone!
https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/download-view.cfm?Doc_ID=683



Dark Sky Wheel
Find out how dark your skies are with these simple tools that demonstrate limiting magnitude with two famous constellations: Orion and Scorpius.
https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/download-view.cfm?Doc_ID=677


How Can You Help Curb Light Pollution?
This article from 2018 lists some ways you can help measure and mitigate light pollution with smart lighting choices and helpful education efforts in your community.
https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/news-display.cfm?News_ID=745

NSN Webinar Series: Darkness in Distress
Kelly Beatty joined the NASA Night Sky Network on January 28, 2021 to discuss the impact of light pollution on both society and our ability to view the night sky. Kelly discussed how we can safely light up our homes, businesses, and communities without wasting energy, disturbing the neighbors, or creating an unhealthy environment for humans and wildlife.. You can find a recording of the discussion at: https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/download-view.cfm?Doc_ID=684




Telecon: Globe at Night with Connie Walker (2014)
Dr. Connie Walker joined NSN members a few years ago to discuss the Globe at Night, dedicated to measuring light pollution from around the world. You can find links to additonal reosurces, the transcsipt, audio, and slides at: https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/download-view.cfm?Doc_ID=550


Milky Way: Galaxy: City of Stars
While not an explicit light pollution activity, this guide can help showcase the sights of the Milky Way Galaxyin all its glory, if you are blessed with a view from darker skies. Includes fun activities and resources to help folks dive deepr into our home galaxy: .https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/download-view.cfm?Doc_ID=546



Many of these materials were developed as part of the Big Astronomy Toolkit. You can find out more about the people behind the sceince at bigastronomy.org .


The Globe at Night program encourages people to get outside and look up! You may even notice that the Dark Sky Wheel is very similar to their own activiies. Take measurements of the night sky every month during their observing campaigns! You can count the stars in certain constellations, or take measurements of light pollution using your smartphone or even a dedicated Sky Quality Meter, and submit your results to the GaN map to help measure the light pollutiion in your area and how it changes over time. Join the latest campaign at globeatnight.org


The International Dark Sky Assocation has a wealth of informaiton about light pollution, and you can check them out at darksky.org