Media

HKU Light Pollution Science Roadshow
Enhance Public’s Understanding of Light Pollution through Realtime Measurement with Cellular Phones

22 Mar 2013

In support of the Earth Hour organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Faculty of Science of The University of Hong Kong will organize the Light Pollution Science Roadshow in the evening of March 23 Saturday at the Avenue of Stars, Tsim Sha Tsui, promoting the importance of dark sky and energy conservation to the public through video show, exhibition and interactive science demonstrations.

The public will have a chance to measure realtime light pollution with provided equipment on-site.　They can also check the readings of other districts with the use of their cellular phones. Members of media are cordially invited to join our Roadshow. Below please find the details:

Date: March 23, 2013 (Upcoming Saturday)
Time: 7:30pm to 10pm
Venue: At the middle session of Avenue of Stars, Tsim Sha Tsui (near InterContinental Hong Kong Hotel)
Activities: (1). Realtime measurement of light pollution with light-detecting meters
                   (2). Realtime checking of light pollution reading in other districts
                   (3). Experiment demonstration on light pollution
                   (4). Video show and exhibition

For details of the event, please visit: http://www.scifac.hku.hk/events/comm/2013/light-pollution

About Light Pollution
Light Pollution is a form of environmental degradation.  The wasteful light from outdoor manmade light sources emitted directly upwards or reflected from the ground can pollute the entire sky through scattering by clouds, fog, and pollutants like suspended particulates in the atmosphere. Thus the night sky brightness is an indicator of the level of light pollution. Light pollution not only rids us of the starry night sky, it also indicates a waste of electric energy and damages the natural and our living environment.

About Hong Kong Night Sky Brightness Monitoring Network (NSN)
Light pollution is a severe environmental problem in a crowded metropolitan such as Hong Kong. The public is growing acutely aware of this issue as reflected from the increasing number of complaints to the authorities. The Hong Kong Night Sky Brightness Monitoring Network (NSN) was developed by physicists at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) to monitor the light pollution condition.  Over 5 million night sky brightness measurements were collected since the inception of the project in May 2010, making it the largest single database on night sky brightness ever collected in the world.  The HKU scientists found that manmade outdoor lightings are indeed the major contributor to light pollution, with the sky found to turn significantly darker in later evening when these lightings are turned off during the night.  The Hong Kong urban night sky was found to be 100 to 1,000 times brighter than the international dark sky standard between 8:30-11:00pm, making it one of the most light-polluted cities in the world. The NSN was funded by the Environment and Conservation Fund of the Environmental Protection Department, and the HKU Knowledge Exchange Fund.  Details of “Hong Kong Night Sky Brightness Monitoring Network” can be found from
http://nightsky.physics.hku.hk/ , or mobile website http://nightsky.physics.hku.hk/m.

For press enquiry, please contact Mr Cheung Sze-leung, Outreach Officer and Science Instructor of Faculty of Science at 2219-4948 or 9232-4171.