Star Watching Network - Implementation of Winter Star Watching and Result of Summer Star Watching For FY 2005

December 12, 2005

Star Watching Network is an activity of simultaneous nation-wide star observation by familiar means, such as with naked eyes or binoculars. This project is conducted twice a year (summer and winter) since 1988 aiming at stimulating interests of participants toward clean and clear atmosphere without any light or air pollution.

The Ministry of the Environment (MOE) tries to widely appeal the significance of clean air through this project. The MOE will further promote various policies for fostering favorable outdoor lighting set-ups, global warming prevention and improvement of local atmospheric environment, such as diffusion of lighting apparatus with less light leakage to up in the air and with subdued lighting. Star Watching Network activities are introduced in the MOE webpage for children at http://www.env.go.jp/kids/star.html (in Japanese).

1.	FY 2005 Winter Star Watching

(1)	Duration Wednesday, January 18 - Tuesday, January 31, 2006 Participants are required to watch stars for more than one day during the period.
(2)	Observation method (a) Naked eyes Observe the Milky Way in three different altitude (in the vicinity of Perseus, Geminids, and Monoceros). (b) Binoculars Observe stars near racket-shaped area in Pleiades star clusters and check magnitude of stars observed. (c) Photographing stars Photograph the night sky near the zenith, using single-lens reflex camera utilizing reversal film (film for slides).
(3)	How to participate Apply to the authorities in charge of air quality management in prefectural, ordinance designated cities, or core city governments. Conduct the observation based on a Manual for Winter Star Watching Network for FY 2005 and report the results to the authorities.
(4)	Fixed point observation The MOE appointed 24 locations at which observation is conducted consecutively by the same method as photographing stars mentioned (2) (c) above to assess brightness of night sky.

2.	Outline of observation results for FY 2005 Summer Star Watching

(1)	Observation period 27 July- 9 August, 2005 Participants were required to watch stars for more than one day during the period.
(2)	Number of groups and individuals participated While 560 groups applied for participation, 427 groups conducted observation in 437 locations due to bad climatic condition and other causes. Total number of individuals participated in the observation is 7,325 (466 groups and 7,690 individuals participated in FY 2005 Summer Star Watching).
(3)	Observation results The stars are difficult to watch in large cities with innumerable artificial lightings making night sky brighter. Although long term observation for almost 20 years shows no major changes in the visibility of stars, it indicates the inclination of decreasing visibility. (a) Naked eye observation of the Milky Way Participants observed visibility of the Milky Way in different altitude (in the vicinity of Cygnus (high altitude), Scutum (medium altitude), and Sagittarius (low altitude). Visibility differs according to the altitude. As altitude lowers, more participants report "the Milky Way can not be seen due to bright night sky". This shows the night sky is more affected by artificial lighting in the part closer to the ground (Fig. 1). (b) Binocular observation Participants observed stars in a triangle-shaped area in Lyrae including 1st magnitude star (Vega) by binoculars. The result is compiled into an "Average Magnitude of Stars Observed" (an average of magnitude of stars which were visible) classified by the scale of cities (Fig. 2). The result indicates that as the scale of city increases, stars are hard to be observed with only bright stars being visible. (c) Brightness of the night sky based on color slide photographs Fig. 3 illustrates brightness of night sky based on the slide photographs taken in the fixed observation points. Assessment of brightness by slide photographs is very objective since it is conducted by third person, on the contrary, naked eye or binocular observation can not avoid deviation in the assessment since it is done by many different observers. In addition, observing points are fixed which makes the data to be more reliable as a long-term data. In general, observation shows that there is no large fluctuation. Note: The National Astronomical Observatory was added to one of the fixed observation points in FY 2005.

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* Fig. 1	Naked Eye Observation of the Milky Way
* Fig. 2	Changes in Average Stella Magnitude Observed According to City Scale
* Fig. 3	Changes of Brightness of Night Sky at Fixed Observation Point (Summer)