Volunteers to check pollution of night skies

VOLUNTEERS are wanted to help with a Peak District project which aims to explore how light pollution affects night skies over the national park.

The Peak District National Park Authority is asking people to look for the constellation of Orion the hunter, to find out how much light pollution obscures views of the stars.

A previous attempt to get the project under way last month was partly affected by cloudy weather.

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As a result, the authority is again asking people to go outside on a clear night, any time between Friday, January 28 and Wednesday, February 2.

When they see Orion, they are asked to log their location, time and date and compare what they see with a series of images available online.

The images show different views of Orion, some in a dark sky, where many stars are visible, and some with light-pollution and fewer stars. People are asked to identify which image most closely resembles what they see.

Jane Chapman, head of environment, heritage and recreation strategy at the authority, said: "We were really grateful for the results we got at the beginning of January.

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"But as it was cloudy on some of the nights, we'd appreciate people's help once again to assess how clearly they can see Orion.

"Light pollution not only affects our enjoyment of the night sky, it wastes energy and has an impact on the wellbeing of people and wildlife.

"The Peak District National Park Authority is working closely with several local astronomical societies to determine how light pollution affects the night sky in and around the Peak District.

"This information will enable us to work with other authorities to try to reduce unneeded light, and allow us to develop policies to protect our night sky for future generations."

Information needed to take part is available online at www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/darkskies.