February 2019 Newsletter
Hello Astronomy Enthusiasts!
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IDA Pittsburgh Chapter Meeting
2 pm on Saturday, March 9
Community Forge at 1256 Franklin Ave, Wilkinsburg, PA 15221
The parking lot is located on the east side of the building. From Route 30, when you turn onto Franklin, make your first left to enter the Community Forge lot." We'll be in the seminar room to the right, second doorway after you go up a set of stairs.
hello@forge.community
Duquesne astronomer Patrick Cooper (coop) is a co-owner of the building, which has a 17" telescope on the roof.
https://www.idapgh.org/
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Metro21 Lunch and Learn
We hope to see you on Friday, February 15 at 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm in 1002 Hamburg Hall at CMU for a Metro21 Lunch and Learn!
This Lunch & Learn will highlight Diane Turnshek, Special Lecturer in the Physics Department at CMU, and her seminar titled “Light Smart: Dark-Sky Friendly Artificial Lighting”.
Diane will discuss how billions of dollars a year are wasted on artificial lighting and the negative effects the light pollution has on plant, animal and human populations. But there’s good news: the City of Pittsburgh is refitting 40K streetlights over the next two years -- replacing high pressure sodium vapor bulbs with much more efficient, 2700K or less, shielded, dimmable LEDs. To aid in future research and decision making, we will be flying drones over Pittsburgh on moonless, clear nights to make the first, publicly available, high resolution light pollution map of a city.
Learn more about Diane’s Metro21 project here:
https://www.cmu.edu/metro21/projects/artificial-light-survey-of-nighttime-pittsburgh.html
Check out this Metro21 podcast with Diane Turnshek to learn more about her work:
https://www.cmu.edu/metro21/news-and-events/metro21-podcast-diane-turnshek-talks-light-pollution-and-the-night-sky.html
RSVP: chelseac@cmu.edu
See you on Friday at noon!