Brilio.net/en - On Saturday evening, from north to south, the sky will light up as the whole of the Milky Way becomes visible to people on the ground. To make sure we get to enjoy the experience, a scientist is calling for people to switch off their lights and look up.
Thomas Jamaluddin launched the Malam Langit Gelap or Dark Night Sky campaign from his Facebook account, urging the public to turn off their lights for an hour from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. Western Indonesia Time this Saturday, August 6.
Thomas is an astronomy and astrophysics expert who is also head of the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (Lapan).
Light pollution, as its known, limits the amount of the night sky we can actually observe. You will see far less in a city than, for example, in an uninhabited desert.
The Milky Way and its over 100 billion stars (thats not a typo) will be visible from north to south on Saturday.
"We can see the swan constellation (Cygnus) in the northern sky with the Summer Triangle, three bright stars around the Cygnus: Vega, Deneb, and Altair. In the southern sky we could see the kite-shaped constellation or southern cross (Crux) which often used as a guide to the south. Almost above our head, we can witness scorpion constellation (Scorpio) with the bright star Antares," Thomas wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
"Turning off our outdoor lights for an hour, at the same (time), will also (serve as) campaign for energy saving, like what we've done in Earth Hour. On Saturday, August 6, 2016, oon a moonless night, Mars and Saturn will also be visible side by side with a red giant star Antares."
(brl/red)
