A fun citizen science opportunity returns this week with the Great World Wide Star Count, an annual endeavor that encourages everyone to look up and count the stars! Now in it’s fifth year, this international event has recorded night sky observations from thousands of individuals in dozens of countries on all but the two pole continents. Most importantly, all that counting has prompted more family nights under the stars and raised a greater awareness about the many ills of light pollution.
Participating in this Windows to the Universe / UCAR project is literally as simple as counting stars on any night from October 14 through October 28. The star count website includes step-by-step instructions and a user-friendly reporting form, as well as a printable activity guide available in fifteen languages. You can also encourage others to participate by posting to Facebook or Google+ or by tweeting your own observations with hashtags like #StarCount2011 and #citizenscience.
Fun Fact: The Great World Wide Star Count is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation.
