What is Loss of the Night?

In many parts of the world, the night sky shines with poor artificial light. Sky glow outshines the stars in the skies and dramatically changes the natural night environment. Scientists are concerned that light pollution might have a big impact on nocturnal ecosystems, but they have very little information about how bright the sky is worldwide or how the sky glow is changing over the years.

What do you do?

‘The Loss of the Night app turns your eyes into a light metre, allowing you to become a citizen scientist and report how bright the night sky is where you live!’ By using this app, you can see the entire star system as an augmented reality. This means that your phone turns into a window to observe the night sky. The app asks you to point the camera to a specific star and take a picture. You can do this several times, which will improve the precision of measurement or introduce a new place you have been to.

Relations with school topics

Light pollution, atmosphere, biodiversity