Join us on Friday, 22 March at 7:00 p.m. in Koury Auditorium at GTCC’s Jamestown Campus
for the 2024 Stellar Society Lecture by Dan Caton (Appalachian State University)
Defending Dark Starry Skies: battles with LEDs on the ground and satellite constellations above
Most people today can only see a few stars due to the increasing brightness of the night sky from artificial sources. The brighter the night sky, the less one can detect faint objects. This affects almost every observatory in the world at some level, and is robbing the general population of the opportunity to experience the awesomeness of the visible night sky. In recent years, the proliferation of commercial satellites has made it such that it is now almost impossible to take long exposures of the night sky without at least one satellite streak appearing in the image. With so many objects in orbit, collisions are more likely, and resulting debris could be catastrophic.
Dan Caton is Professor of Astronomy and Director of Observatories at Appalachian State University. He is a member of the Committee for the Protection of Astronomy and the Space Environment (COMPASSE) of the American Astronomical Society. He has been a long-time advocate for well-designed nighttime lighting and he chairs the North Carolina Section of Dark Sky International.
https://www.npr.org/2024/04/01/1240026582/dystopias-are-so-2020-meet-the-new-protopias-that-show-a-hopeful-future
And plays.
Creative Greensboro Presents ‘Evening of Short Plays No. 42’
https://www.greensboro-nc.gov/Home/Components/News/News/19205/
Speaking of constellations . . .
Join us on Friday, 22 March at 7:00 p.m. in Koury Auditorium at GTCC’s Jamestown Campus
for the 2024 Stellar Society Lecture by Dan Caton (Appalachian State University)
Defending Dark Starry Skies: battles with LEDs on the ground and satellite constellations above
Most people today can only see a few stars due to the increasing brightness of the night sky from artificial sources. The brighter the night sky, the less one can detect faint objects. This affects almost every observatory in the world at some level, and is robbing the general population of the opportunity to experience the awesomeness of the visible night sky. In recent years, the proliferation of commercial satellites has made it such that it is now almost impossible to take long exposures of the night sky without at least one satellite streak appearing in the image. With so many objects in orbit, collisions are more likely, and resulting debris could be catastrophic.
Dan Caton is Professor of Astronomy and Director of Observatories at Appalachian State University. He is a member of the Committee for the Protection of Astronomy and the Space Environment (COMPASSE) of the American Astronomical Society. He has been a long-time advocate for well-designed nighttime lighting and he chairs the North Carolina Section of Dark Sky International.