The arc of the Milky Way seen from a truly dark site is part of our planet's cultural and natural heritage. It is now more urgent than ever to preserve and protect dark night skies in places such as urban cultural landscapes, national parks and sites connected with astronomical observations, as well as to support the goals of UNESCO's thematic initiative, Astronomy and World Heritage, to preserve sites of astronomical importance for posterity. The ongoing loss of a dark night sky for much of the world's population is a serious and growing issue that not only impacts astronomical research, but also human health, ecology, safety, secu-rity, economics and energy conservation. According to the United Nations, 2008 will be the first year in which 3.3 billion people, over half of the world's population, will live in cities. With the growth of large cities in Africa and Asia, the number of people living in cities could climb to 5 billion by 2030. As cities grow, so does their impact on the global environment.

For this Cornerstone project the IAU will collaborate with the US National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), representatives of the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), the Starlight Initiative and other national and international partners in dark sky and environmental education on several related themes. The focus will be on three main citizen-scientist programmes to measure local levels of light pollution. These programmes will take the form of "star hunts" or "star counts", providing people with a fun and direct way to acquire heightened awareness about light pollution through firsthand observations of the night sky. Together the three programmes will cover the entire International Year of Astronomy 2009, namely GLOBE at Night (in March), the Great World Wide Star Count (in October) and How Many Stars (January, February, April through September, November and December).

Partnerships are under discussion with existing programmes such as the World Night in Defence of Starlight (April 20), supported by UNESCO and the IAU; Earth Hour (March 28), (Inter)national Dark Sky Week, International Sidewalk Astronomy Night, Astronomers Without Borders, and The World at Night, as well as other IYA2009 Cornerstone projects such as the 100 Hours of Astronomy and the Galileo Teachers Program.

Star Hunts as Cornerstone Projects

Education efforts have proven to be most effective when people get physically involved. For example, "star hunts" or "star counts" provide people with a fun, fast and no-frills way to acquire heightened awareness about light pollution through firsthand observations of the night sky. Over the past three years the GLOBE at Night program (led by the U.S. National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) and the GLOBE Program educational outreach staff) has enabled thousands of citizen-scientists around the world to contribute measurements of their local sky brightness to a growing global database in two ways: simple unaided-eye observations that anyone can do and quantitative digital measurements through a handheld, well-calibrated sky-brightness meter.

For this cornerstone project, IAU will collaborate with NOAO, International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) and other national and international partners in dark sky and environmental education on several related themes. The focus will be on 3 main citizen-scientist programs to measure local levels of light pollution. These programs will cover the entire International Year of Astronomy, namely GLOBE at Night (in March), the Great World Wide Star Count (in October) and How Many Stars (January, February, April through September, November and December).

Partnering with Other Programs on Dark Skies Related Events

There are also on-going discussions on partnering with existing programs such as Earth Hour, the U.S. National Dark Skies Week (making it international), Sidewalk Astronomy, and Astronomers Without Borders (ASB). The Dark Skies Awareness program also seeks to collaborate with other cornerstone projects and groups like 100 Hours of Astronomy, the Galileo Teachers Program, UNAWE, and the Astronomy and World Heritage Initiative. The 100 Hours of Astronomy may want to collaborate with GLOBE at Night and Earth Hour at the end of March. The Galileo Teachers Program may want to collaborate on a kit that has light pollution activities (like a shielding demonstration) in it. UNAWE might consider collaborating with the Dark Skies Awareness cornerstone project and possibly ASB's The World at Night project on an art/photography contest for children of all ages on dark skies and what it means to them. The Astronomy and World Heritage Initiative may want to collaborate on efforts to preserve dark sites in collaboration with IDA and NOAO.

Other Dark Skies Cornerstone Programs Proposed for IYA2009

• Many people across the world have access to digital cameras. Imagine involving them in a basic program that asks how dark is dark in your neighborhood and illustrating it simply with a photograph? It could be a contest to help identify a dark-sky oasis in a city or the darkest site/park/reserve in the country. Submissions could be made on-line with a universal file format, by email or mail-ins for those without internet service. With other qualifying criteria satisfied, the prize could be an IDA-approved designation as a dark sky place. Events could be promoted during the 100 Hours of Astronomy or before, during and after Earth Hour. (Possible collaborators to implement this would be IDA, ASB and UNAWE.)

• Traveling exhibits are a wonderful means for providing outreach and education to communities on light pollution during educational events such as star parties, evenings in the park, or sidewalk astronomy. A traveling exhibit recently revised by the International Dark-Sky Association will be used and translated into 15 other languages, funds permitting.

• The planetarium program takes advantage of the interactive capabilities of small and portable domes to advocate dark skies and to train participants for dark skies awareness and in particular star hunting programs. The presentation starts out with a Apache/Lakota story on the night sky, followed by a demonstration of shielding lights, and an in-dome presentation of Crelin's book, "There Once was a Sky Full of Stars". Then the audience locates the constellation of Orion and learns about the GLOBE at Night program. The planetarium program will also include Saving the Night, a powerpoint which illustrates the negative effects of improper lighting on the night sky. Translation into 6 languages is planned, funds permitting.

• One of the most effective and least costly ways to reach audio-learners is through 30-60 second Public Service Announcements (PSA). PSA audio podcasts on light pollution for public radio shows and television announcements are proposed here as well as night mode (red) video for sidewalk astronomers (to present to public observers). The production of audio podcasts will most likely be led by USA IYA New Media Chair, Pamela Gay. Translation into 15 languages is planned, funds permitting.