Webinar:  The Science of Light Pollution, a presentation to the St. Louis Astronomical Society.  Learn more at http://www.slasonline.org

Date:  Friday, June 19, 2020

Time:  7:30 pm - 8:30 pm

How to Participate: Watch the program on Facebook during the scheduled time.  Visit http://www.facebook.com/darkskymissouri

Title:  "Not So Starry, Starry Night - Quantifying and Combating the Light Pollution"

Speaker:  Dr. Vayu Gokhale is Associate Professor of Physics for Truman State University located in Kirksville, MO and an IDA Missouri Board Member. Dr. Gokhale‘s research interests include studying Eclipsing Binary stars, astrobiology, and light pollution.

Program:  At any given moment, half of the Earth’s surface is experiencing night. But night isn’t dark anymore, for most of the United States and much of the whole world. Electrification and industrialization have altered the nature of the night and upset ecological balance in our environment. In this talk, Dr. Gokhale will review some of the latest research on the phenomenon of light pollution, its harmful effects, and ways of mitigating it. He will discuss the rationale behind the ‘Sky Brightness Measurement’ program offered by the Missouri chapter of the International Dark Sky Association. This is an effort to quantify the sky brightness at various locations across the state of Missouri. The data gathered will help to solve the primary research question: How do local weather conditions such as cloud cover, humidity, temperature etc. affect the sky brightness measurements at a given location? Dr. Gokhale will conclude with a review of the efforts made at Truman State University to reduce light pollution, and provide a recipe for initiating similar initiatives in other towns and cities.