Night Skies:
As many night time observers, ranging from amateur to advanced, looked to the skies in February as fireballs rained down upon earth almost every night. It was a majestic, and harmless, phenomenon that got many people to get up out of bed at obscene hours just to view, but what for? Many people do not realise that this happenes every year around the same time. February is notorious for it's night time views as everything from Orion to the spring constellations are changing appearances. Up here in Canada, we tend to see the dippers and a few others everynight no matter what time of year, but it still shocks people. The change in the night sky from winter to spring, spring to summer, summer to fall and fall to winter still manages to make people gasp. Sometimes this makes me feel that most people still believe this world to be the center of the universe. So why is it so surprising to people to see the sky light up with shooting stars, fireballs and other night time events? Well that's simple, light pollution.
Many people don't realise just how gorgeous the sky can be at night because of city lights. A large majority of the worlds population live where there is a rather dense amount of cities, towns and villages. which all have their lights on at night and create a halo like affect. If you have ever driven down a highway away from a city and looked back, you would notice a ball of light in the direction of where you just came from, that is what astronomers and scientists call light pollution. It is what happens when light hits the ground and bounces back up, or when something, such as a lightpost from a parking lot, does not have what is called a light buffer zone. Basically it shines in a 360 degree area instead of just downwards. It is because of this that many city dwelling people do not see the light of the night sky.
Light pollution provides a constant enemy against the light coming from stars, as it must filter it's way through to the people below in order to be seen. If the star or galaxy does not shine bright enough, it simply can not be seen. This is why only the brightest stars, normally within constellations, can be seen by most people. Step out side, only a mile or so from a city, and many more stars can be seen with the naked eye. It is out there that you will find there are many more shooting star events, and even fireballs, than you realise.
There is always debris out in space, asteroids from the milkway, peices from planets gone super nova eons ago, it's all out there. So why is it surprising that it would enter earths atmosphere? The fact is that it does every day and every night. It depends on your location and light pollution as to whether or not you see such events. If you want to see these things, you have to be patient. They don't occur every second, or just because you want them too, they are random events that can be predicted, but only with the right equipment. If you are in the city and want to see a bit more sky than you do, try looking in your back yard. Keep direct light behind a building, or even your hand and you will find you are able to see more than you originally thought. It's all about the light pollution. Of course the cities have a large globe of light that the stars cant filter through, and this will stop you from being able to see all that you may want to. The only equipment you can use to get though this light pollution is a telescope from an observatory.
Here in Edmonton we are lucky to have the Telus World of Science building, also known as the space and science center, which has a large telescope that the public may use to view the night sky any time of the year. Some places may not, and for this I have no real sollution, try getting a smaller telescope or find one of the kits to make your own. And sometimes, if the sky is clear enough, even a pair of binoculars will let you see the nebulas in Orions belt, or the dips on the moon. Overall though, for optimum viewing pleasure of night time events, the best places to view the night sky are out in the middle of nowhere away from the light pollution. and it is there, that anyone can see the wonders of the night sky. You only have to drive a mile or so.
D.J
Resources
- Sky and Telescope Magazine - Purchase or Join
- Night Watch by Terence Dickinson