By the end of 2024, the team behind the project hopes to be able to publish the first results of the monitoring network on the impact of excess artificial light in the area.
In July 2023, the University of La Serena presented the IluminAconciencia project, which is funded by the Regional Competitiveness Innovation Fund (FIC-R) of the Regional Government, and aims to measure the brightness of the night sky in the region and train local tour guides on the issue of light pollution.
Marcelo Jaque, astronomer, researcher at the University of La Serena and project director, says that one of his main motivations is to provide data for decision-making in the area. “With the cameras we used before, we had instant images, but with this network, we have constant and continuous monitoring, which allows us to take measures over time. Our intention has always been to provide all the information to decision-makers,” he explained.
The publication of the most significant results of this network is expected by the end of this year, after each of the meters can be installed for a minimum of six months. “We already have results, but to publish them, we want to have all the information. For this, we need many nights without a moon or clear skies; otherwise, the brightness of the night sky can be amplified or reduced due to external factors that are not just artificial light,” pointed out the project director.
The network of 20 technological nodes in the Coquimbo Region
The purpose of IluminAconciencia is divided into two main functions. One is the monitoring network, composed of fifteen technological nodes that measure the brightness of the night sky in various places in the region.
These measurement points are located in various tourist observatories in the region, and some have been placed in local schools to raise awareness among new generations about the impact of light pollution. The oldest nodes have been installed for about a year, and within the coming months, they hope to complete the twenty contemplated by the project.
“We are installing nodes in schools mainly to explain how this technology works. But also, to generate meaningful learning by allowing children to have an instrument at hand that generates information from their schools,” commented Marcelo Jaque during his presentation at the Light Pollution Measurement Seminar in Chile 2024, organized by the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso.
Additionally, the project includes training for astro-tourism guides in the area, who serve as ambassadors for the protection of the night skies.
Light pollution: a problem not only for observatories
The IluminAconciencia team has also sought to inform and raise awareness among the inhabitants of the Coquimbo Region about the issue of light pollution, not only as a problem for astronomical observatories but as a phenomenon that affects people’s health and the environment.
In order to bring the topic closer to the public, the project has broadcast radio messages on community radios in the region, held astrophotography contests, and implemented a social media outreach strategy, among other initiatives.
