Here’s a little homework assignment for all of you. From 20 October to 3 November you can participate in the Great World Wide Star Count. Don’t worry you don’t need to count ALL of them. Depending on your hemisphere you’ll get a specific constellation to track down and to count the certain stars in the constellation. It’s extremely easy and fun to boot.

Visit the World Wide Star count website and get your activity guide. After you have completed your observation you’ll have to file a report on the site – the activity guide explains everything.
You’ll need to know your location, so those of you with a GPS can use it to good effect. If you don’t own a GPS an easy way to find your location is to use Google Maps (Google Earth) and zoom in on your home/observing spot.

There’s two main goals to the project. The first is to get people interested in the night sky and the second is to map and determine the effect of light pollution across the world.

Have fun and while you are at it go do some “science”!

I can attest to that last part.. light pollution. I live in NYC. Even on a clear night, most often, a few stars here and there. Once in a while, visibilty is actually quite good. And then one day, I drove into Canada, crossing through mostly open, unsettled terrain.. and looked through my open moonroof. My jaw dropped. The sky was flooded with stars. I actually had to pull over and spend a minute staring.

So, great post. Hope it gets people involved.

Thanks for the link KJ...what a cool project. I am going to get my grandkids involved as well :o)

And if you need a little help, go here. ;oP

Another option would be to grab a star map from Starmaps.com. You can print it out and take it with you. It will show you all the constellations and the direction you need to view to see them.

What's also very handy is the list of naked eye and binocular objects you can try hunt down, but that is a whole project by itself!

Thanks KJ ... sounds like a fun project. I've downloaded the Activity Guide & am ready to count some stars.

The most amazing stargazing I've done is at the overlook of Echo Lake (10,600 ft.) in Colorado. It was a cold night and we all stood silently in awe...

Just went out and did mine.

With current conditions I'm at a magnitude 6 sky. Very good.