Supporting Dark Sky Communities in the Park

支持公园内的黑暗天空社区

• 批准号: ST/K002112/1
• 负责人: Daniel Brown
• 金额: $ 1.23万
• 依托单位: Nottingham Trent University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2012 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ST%2FK002112%2F1
• 关键词: Supporting; Dark; Sky; Communities; Park

This project aims to continue the work started by our previous STFC funded project "Astronomy in the Park - Landscape and Skyscape" from financial year 2011/12 in which we sought to raise awareness of astronomy in audiences not normally engaged in, and at locations not conventionally associated with, astronomy. Throughout 2011/12, Nottingham Trent University and the Peak District National Park Authority have been working to promote awareness of the detrimental effects of light pollution, with special focus being paid to the loss of the cultural heritage linking ancient features in the landscape to the night sky. The Peak District National Park Authority has a legal purpose to conserve and enhance, as well as promote understanding and enjoyment of, the specials qualities of the National Park, which include cultural heritage and dark skies.Together with the Peak District Dark Skies group, a collection of local astronomical societies from in and around the National Park, we have used outreach events that have taken the form of public walks and talks, as well as the use of an inflatable planetarium, to directly engage over 400 people from all over the country. Each of the events which we have organized have been significantly oversubscribed, and it is our desire to give everyone the opportunity to learn about the links between cultural heritage and astronomy, and how they are being lost due to light pollution. In addition to the above, we also want to actively encourage communities within the National Park to take responsibility for the conservation of the night skies in their local area. To facilitate this we wish to create an award for communities that commit to work towards the reduction of light pollution within their local area. We aim to do this by introducing these communities to astronomy through education events, hands on demonstrations of astronomical equipment, and working towards creating self supporting Dark Sky Discovery sites within their local area. In our previous project we have already indirectly engaged 1000+ people visiting these sites with astronomy through specifically developed interpretational panels. The Discovery sites within the communities will be again including examples of astronomical objects observed by e.g. SDO, Herschel and VLT that will have been chosen by the community themselves. The overall impact will be the realization that astronomy can be explored by everyone and linking observations with images provided by STFC funded facilities, such as SDO, Herschel and VLT. Not only will participants explore the impact of light pollution on these observations and on their cultural heritage, but the grass-roots approach will also allow the communities to claim ownership of their site and feel responsible for its maintenance ensuring a long lasting legacy.Since work supporting the learning of sciences including astronomy in the outdoor classroom is part of the research work carried out by Dr. D. Brown and also link to his dissertation work in MA in International Higher Education, the outcomes of this project will be further used to improve supporting such learning and teaching in schools. Most importantly the Dark Sky group - network of amateur astronomer associations, universities, and the Peak District National Park Authority (PDNPA) - will be building upon the increase awareness in their educational work towards tackling light pollution and establishing a Dark Sky Reserve. Our previous work has also established a broad interest and need for follow-up work and has illustrated the potential of such events.

该项目旨在继续我们之前由 STFC 资助的项目“公园里的天文学 - 景观和天空景观”从 2011/12 财政年度开始的工作，在该项目中，我们力求提高不常参与的观众和不常参与的地点的天文学意识。通常与天文学相关。整个2011/2012年，诺丁汉特伦特大学和峰区国家公园管理局一直致力于提高人们对光污染有害影响的认识，特别关注将景观中的古代特征与夜间联系起来的文化遗产的丧失天空。峰区国家公园管理局的合法目的是保护和增强国家公园的特殊品质，并促进人们对它们的理解和享受，其中包括文化遗产和黑暗天空。与峰区黑暗天空小组一起，我们汇集了国家公园内外的当地天文学协会，通过公共散步和演讲以及充气天文馆的形式开展外展活动，直接吸引了来自世界各地的 400 多人 国家。我们组织的每一项活动都受到了极大的超额认购，我们希望让每个人都有机会了解文化遗产和天文学之间的联系，以及它们如何因光污染而消失。除此之外，我们还希望积极鼓励国家公园内的社区承担起保护当地夜空的责任。为了促进这一目标，我们希望为致力于减少当地光污染的社区设立一个奖项。我们的目标是通过教育活动向这些社区介绍天文学、亲自演示天文设备，并努力在当地创建自给自足的黑暗天空发现站点。在我们之前的项目中，我们已经通过专门开发的解释面板间接吸引了 1000 多名参观这些地点的人了解天文学。社区内的发现站点将再次包含由例如观测到的天文物体的示例。 SDO、Herschel 和 VLT 将由社区自行选择。总体影响将是认识到每个人都可以探索天文学，并将观测结果与 STFC 资助的设施（例如 SDO、Herschel 和 VLT）提供的图像联系起来。参与者不仅将探讨光污染对这些观察结果及其文化遗产的影响，而且草根方法还将允许社区声称对其场地的所有权，并感到有责任对其维护负责，以确保长期的遗产。支持在户外课堂上学习包括天文学在内的科学知识是 D. Brown 博士开展的研究工作的一部分，也与其国际高等教育硕士论文工作相关，该项目的成果将进一步用于改善支持学校的此类学习和教学。最重要的是，黑暗天空小组——由业余天文学家协会、大学和峰区国家公园管理局（PDNPA）组成的网络——将在其教育工作中提高人们对解决光污染和建立黑暗天空保护区的认识。我们之前的工作也引起了人们对后续工作的广泛兴趣和需求，并说明了此类活动的潜力。