Press Release

July 09, 2007
  • Air & Transportation

Star Watching Network for the Summer of FY2007 to be Held and Results of FY2006 Winter Star Watching

The Star Watching Network is a nation-wide simultaneous star observation activity using familiar means, such as binoculars and cameras or with naked eyes. This project has been conducted twice a year (summer and winter) since 1988, aiming at stimulating the interests of participants toward a clean and clear atmosphere without any light or air pollution. The Ministry of the Environment (MOE) intends to widely publicize the significance of clean air through this project. The MOE seeks to foster favorable outdoor lighting set-ups by carrying out measures to diffuse lighting installations, such as those with subdued lighting or with less upward light spill, and to eventually improve local air quality and contribute to global warming prevention. The Star Watching Network activities are introduced on the MOE website for children (in Japanese). https://www.env.go.jp/kids/star.html 1. FY2007 Summer Star Watching (1) Observation period August 5 (Sunday) - August 18 (Saturday), 2007 Participants are asked to watch stars for more than one day during the period. (2) How and what to observe (a) With naked eyes: Observe the Milky Way at three different altitudes (in the vicinity of Cygnus, Scutum, and Sagittarius). (b)With binoculars Observe stars in a triangle-shaped area in Lyra including a first magnitude star (Vega) and check the magnitude of stars that can be observed. (c) With cameras Take photographs of the night sky near the zenith, using a single-lens reflex camera utilizing reversal film (film for slides). 2. Outline of observation results of FY2006 Winter Star Watching (1) Observation period January 8 - January 21, 2007 Participants were asked to watch stars for more than one day during the period. (2) Number of groups and individuals that had participated While 491 groups applied for participation, the actual number of groups that had participated was 362, due to bad weather and other reasons. The total number of participants was 4,150 (352 groups and 3,107 individuals participated in FY2005 Winter Star Watching).


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