'Dark Sky Activities' event

Would you like to experience a dark sky in London?

We want to make it possible.

Come to Burgess Park and learn to use citizen science to assess light pollution, take a good look at the sky and join us for a nature walk to experience the sounds and sensations of wildlife at night.
 
BACKGROUND

 Light pollution is “excessive, poorly directed or unnecessary artificial light at night”.

Whilst there are clear benefits to this use of artificial light, there are also drawbacks.

At present, almost half of the European population has lost the ability to see the Milky Way, with a trend towards brighter nights likely to continue. There are also many studies suggesting light pollution to be having detrimental effects on both humans and wildlife.
Earth Hour is a worldwide event organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). It is held every year between 8.30 to 9.30 pm towards the end of March. Its aim is to encourage people around the world turn off all lights and learn about the impact our energy consumption has on climate change. It is also a golden opportunity to experience the dark night as nature intended.
 
DETAILS

On 25th March, The Friends of Burgess Park and researchers from University College London (Extreme Citizen Science Research Group) will be co-hosting a free Dark Night Activities event in Burgess Park, London. 

Meet us: 20:00 to 20:30 at the barbecue area south of the lake (near the sports centre). We’ll have the Friends of Burgess Park banner.

Look through a telescope (and see stars or London lights, depending on cloud cover!), watch to see how many lights are switched off, learn how to record light pollution for citizen science, and listen to the sounds of the night with two researchers. Weather permitting, we’ll go up to the hill which has great views of London, then light a small fire and share our feelings about the experience over a glass of mulled apple juice.

The event is part of a new citizen science project “Into the Night”, which is organising a network of affiliated dark night activities around the UK to coincide with Earth Hour at 20:30 UTC. The event will allow participants to experience some aspects of what a naturally dark night is like. From nature walks to stargazing, we hope to highlight the benefits of a night when the lights are off.

At the end of Earth Hour, we will ask participants to complete a brief wellbeing survey that will feed into a nation-wide study, the results of which we will publicly share.

Attendance to this event is free. We advise that all attendees wear warm suitable clothing and footwear (bring waterproofs) keeping the weather in mind.

If you have a smartphone, please bring it along. We will be using an app called Globe at Night which you may wish to install in advance.

Please book your place through EventBrite. The nearest park entrance to the Earth Hour Activities will be held at Albany Road/Old Kent Road Camberwell South London SE5 7JW. For travel details on how to get there please see this link.