One Star at a Time, Global StarPark Network, Astronomers Without Borders

Michael and SpokeStar will share ideas of how YOU can make a difference.

I was thinking about the time when I really understood LightPollution and when

it truly affected me. I went and looked in my filingcabinet for my

documents that would give me that date. I found it, January2005 was the

year I started my fight against Light Pollution. Living ona country

road all my life with no Street lights, I knew what thenight sky had to

offer. Late in 2004 I was informed that neighbors wanted toput Street

lights on our road.

On that particular day I was furious. People wanted to takemy night

sky away from me and I was going to do everything in mypower to stop

lights from being installed and ruining my views of thenight sky.

I had to convince my neighbors that lights were not needed,so how do

I do it I was thinking to my self. I had no contacts,nothing! Our

family just got our first computer an a couple monthsbefore that and I

was still learning how to type my name on it, I never evenused a

typewriter before. With no experience I started my searchfor Light

Pollution sites that would I thought give me all theinformation on how

to deal with this type of nightmare.

To my surprise there was not many websites with the  typeof

information on Light Pollution that were very helpful. Surethey

explained what LP was but not how to deal with this type ofsituation. I

copied down what I thought would give me the bestammunition to hand out

to my neighbors. I went to every door on my road and talkedto and left

my fliers for everyone to read before the first town hallmeeting. I

went to the first meeting and heard ridiculous reasons whysome folks

wanted Street lights, “we want to walk at night and beseen”, “we need

the lights so the Ambulance can see our housenumbers”, “we want to feel

safer at night”.

Then heard from people who did not like the idea, “Imoved to this

road because the next road over where I use to liveinstalled Street

lights”, “I don’t need them”, “It willcost me Money? No way!”, me and a

few others spoke up about ruining the view of the nightsky, my father

who was on the town council for 20 years wanted to be optedout with 5

other neighbors in my area of the road said the same.

The board heard both sides and decided that lights wouldnot be put

from my next door neighbors house to my fathers house butwill have a

vote on the rest of the road. The vote came in 49% No 51%Yes.

For one mile there are 13 Street lights that turn on atdusk and go

off at daybreak,  I live on top of a hill and see 2 Streetlights and

can’t wait until my trees I had to plant grow big enough toblock the

light.

I knew I had to join in the fight. Audrey Fischer and Ihave been working together

coming up with ideas how to inform the public and will begetting

results soon. SpokeStar is one of our ideas, to informpeople where

Light Pollution is being reduced in towns and cities.SpokeStar will

inform you who is doing this work and how there areachieving there

goals. SpokeStar will be a symbol to all, that anyone cantake part and

get results in the fight against Light Pollution.

Dr. Brainard’s academic work has been concerned with the effects of light on biological and behavioral responses of animals and humans for over thirty years. His research on the effects of light have been supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, NASA, FDA, as well as Philips, OSRAM and other industrial and private sources. He has authored 90 original research articles and over 50 book chapters and edited 8 books or monographs including four lighting standards for the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA).

This past year he received the highest award in his field: The Research Award for Excellence on Photobiology, Photochemistry and Photophysics, American Society for Photobiology (June, 2010).

Dr. Brainard chaired the IESNA Photobiology Committee for ten years, is currently chair of the IESNA Light and Health Committee, and has been the Division Six Director for the International Commission on Illumination (USNC/CIE) since 1992.

David John Eicher (born August 7, 1961, Oxford, Ohio) is an American editor, writer, and popularizer of astronomy and space. He has been editor-in-chief of Astronomy magazine since 2002. He is author, coauthor, or editor of 16 books on science and American history and is known for having founded a magazine on astronomical observing, Deep Sky Monthly, when he was a 15-year-old high school student.

Eicher is also a historian, having researched and written extensively about the American Civil War. He is also active and interested in studying minerals, with a collection of more than 1,000 specimens, and is a drummer who plays with the Astronomy Magazine Blues Band.

In the early 1980s, Blask was one of only a handful of scientists studying how the pineal gland regulates breast cancer development and growth through melatonin, a hormone produced by the gland at night during sleep. Melatonin modulates many of the body’s natural circadian rhythms, including the sleep/wake cycle, and has been shown to have important anti-cancer properties.

Though trained as a composer of chamber and orchestral music, Talman switched modes of presentation after an extended stay in Europe. His repeated visits to the Cathedral of St. Vitus in Prague in 1996-97 provided important insight regarding architectural sound. Talman determined that the ambient sound of a space, the Room Tone, is sufficient to activate the resonance of the space, which provides unique sonic perceptual data of the site.

After two years of experimentation with recordings of spatial sound, Talman’s installation “Vanishing Point 1.1” (1999) was presented at St. Paul’s Chapel at Columbia University. This work featured the site’s resonance, extracted from a recording of its ambient room tone, amplified, treated as a compositional element and returned to the space in multi-channel sound. Since then Talman has produced numerous works that feature this unique resonance-composition and feedback technique. The installations, at times, also incorporate resonant sculpture, video projection and other visual objects.

Installation sites have included Cathedral Square (Domplatte) in Cologne, Germany, St. James Cathedral in Chicago, the Bavarian Forest, a wind turbine site in Åland, Finland, the MIT Media Lab, The Kitchen, Eyebeam, bitforms gallery in New York City and others.

 July 4: Notes on Nature of the Night Sky

www.jefftalman.com
Adler Planetarium, 1300 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, 6 PM
One show only – limited seating!

Hear the sound of stars from the original NOTNS project as score to a stunning 3-D tour of the cosmos. The presentation includes descriptions of processes used by collaborator Dr. Daniel Huber, a NASA astrophysicist, to model the sound, plus details of the original Bavarian Forest installation. Project sound is presented on the planetarium’s state-of-the-art sound system.

Nature of the Night Sky premiered as a presentation of the Berghof Gibacht near Waldmünchen, Germany in May, 2011. It was featured in an NPR interview on Weekend Edition with Jacki Lyden and was later released as a CD by New Domain Records. The installation is slated for a North American premiere later this year – more information coming soon.

]]> http://alcon2012.astroleague.org/jeff-talman-artist-star-sound-installation-nature-of-the-night-sky/feed/ 0 http://alcon2012.astroleague.org/vivian-hoette-astronomy-educator-at-yerkes-observatory/ http://alcon2012.astroleague.org/vivian-hoette-astronomy-educator-at-yerkes-observatory/#comments Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:04:31 +0000 Rich http://alcon2012.astroleague.org/?p=272 Vivian Hoette is an astronomy educator for the Lawrence Hall of Science. She is based at the historic Yerkes Observatory, Williams Bay, Wisconsin. Vivian initiated an observing program wherein teachers use telescopes at Yerkes Observatory.

She also runs HOU (Hands-On Universe) teacher workshops in the Chicago area and elsewhere in the Midwest, as well as in Sweden, Russia, Hawaii, and Australia.

B.S., Physics, Brandeis University, 1967. Ph.D., Solid State Physics, Northeastern University, 1973. Research Associate, Laboratory of Nuclear Studies, Cornell University, 1973-78. Instructor and Senior Research Associate, Laboratory of Nuclear Studies, Cornell University, 1978- present. Visiting appointments include: CERN, Geneva, Switzerland; SUNY, Binghamton; Department of Energy; United States Particle Accelerator School. Fellow, American Physical Society.

Research Areas
Radio frequency superconductivity, high temperature superconductors, particle accelerators, field emisison, voltage breakdown

Current Research
Radio Frequency Superconductivity research for accelerators aims to advance our understanding of the behavior of superconducting niobium surfaces when exposed to very high electric and magnetic fields at microwave frequencies(~GHz). We are developing superconducting accelerating structures for future accelerators for high energy physics and for x-ray light sources. On the materials front we are interested in characterizing the RF properties of niobium, niobium-3-tin as well as new high temperature superconductors. Students engaged in RF superconductivity have the opportunity to gain experience in a variety of areas such as microwaves, ultra-high vacuum, high temperature techniques, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, Auger analysis, Atomic Force Microscopy, low temperature physics, superconductivity, accelerator physics and accelerator technology. We have openings for research.

Hammergren is the Director of the Astro-Science Workshop (ASW), an NSF-funded summer outreach program for high-school students interested in astronomy. The ASW program is in its 42nd year and includes such distinguished alumni as Astronaut John Grunsfeld.