Have you submitted your Globe at Night observation, yet? The U.K.’s 21st Purley Beaver Colony has!
Last weekend, I had the distinct pleasure and privilege of speaking with a group of young skywatching scouts from the U.K. About 25 people – children and parents – crowded into Croydon’s Norman Fisher Observatory in London, England, while scout leader, Paul Harper, connected all of us via skype chat. We couldn’t see each other, but I could hear the delightful (and delighted) voices of all the children as they described their views of the night sky and gave me their Globe at Night sky report.
I shall never forget the sounds of those young voices shouting out their observations. First came their Globe at Night report – a clear 4th magnitude sky from atop the 500′ plateau that is home to England’s RAF Kenley airfield, where the Norman Fisher Observatory resides. Then came their excited recollections of the sky. Sam remembered “the Great Bear” of Ursa Major; Ashley recalled Orion’s “Big Belt”; little three-year-old Miles saw the stars of Cassiopeia; and (impressively) eleven-year-old Christy explored Orion’s bow! And, of course, they all remembered bright orange Mars.
Paul Harper (aka @HonorarySpock) devotes much of his time to sharing the night sky with others and working with local scouts. On this particular weekend, he hosted the 21st Purley Beaver Colony and their friends and family as they explored Orion and the surrounding constellations.
Much of Paul’s scout work is done as a chairperson of the Croydon Astronomical Society. Their observatory, recently renamed to honor CAS member Norman Fisher, is open to the public every Saturday evening, September through May. This weekend, it will once again be filled with the joyful voices of children, as Paul encourages two more scout groups to look to the sky to submit their own GlobeAt Night reports.
As if scouts and sky weren’t enough, Paul also contributes outreach time to AFM*Radio – recently as a guest on Rebecca and Jeff Setzer’s Astronomy Out and About and as a regular co-host of Richie Jarvis’ Under British Skies. He is also the voice of @CroydonAs, offering observatory and sky updates for those in the Croydon region.
Now, if this one man can do all that, can we not, each of us, take a moment to submit a single Globe At Night report? With only a few days remaining in this event, the time to do it is now. Remember, every count counts – the more awareness we raise about light pollution, the greater our possibility of returning to dark skies!
