Globe at Night is an international citizen-science campaign to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution by inviting citizen-scientists to measure & submit their night sky brightness observations.
To find Bootes, look for the Big Dipper constellation in the north. Follow the arc made by the Dipper's handle until you see a bright star. This is Arcturus, which is located in what would be the waist of Bootes. The rest of the stars in Bootes form the shape of a kite, with dimmer stars beneath the diamond shape of the kite forming his legs.
Visible in: Northern hemisphere, Southern hemisphere
Hercules the hero of Greece can be best seen by looking up and to the North in the summer. Find the brightest star Vega by looking North, then by looking just west of that you can make out the keystone, or body, of Hercules. The head of Hercules will be to the South, and his kneeling legs will be pointing northward.
Visible in: Northern hemisphere
The constellation Crux (also known as the asterism of the Southern Cross) is easily visible from the southern hemisphere at practically any time of year. For locations south of 34°S, Crux is circumpolar and thus always visible in the night sky. It is also visible near the horizon from tropical latitudes of the northern hemisphere for a few hours every night during the northern winter and spring.
Crux is bordered by the constellations Centaurus (the Centaur), which surrounds it on three sides, and Musca (the Fly). Centaurus is one of the brightest and largest constellations in the southern sky. The two brightest stars in Centaurus, Alpha and Beta Centauri, are often referred to as the “Southern Pointers” or just “The Pointers”, allowing people to easily find the constellation of Crux. (Alpha Centauri is also the 4th brightest star in the night sky.)
Crux is sometimes confused with the nearby False Cross by stargazers. Crux is somewhat kite-shaped, and it has a fifth star (α Crucis). The False Cross is also diamond-shaped, somewhat dimmer on average, does not have a fifth star and lacks the two prominent Pointer stars.
Visible in: Southern hemisphere
Practice finding all the Globe at Night Constellations, when you are done practicing follow the 6 steps:
Globe at Night is truly an international campaign. Our Activity Guides, Postcards, and the data reporting webapp have been translated into many languages. These are all available to download from our Resources page.
Whether you use a smartphone, tablet or computer, you can submit your data in real time with our webapp - now available in 28 languages! Help us make 2021 a record year!
SciStarter and Arizona State University created a customizable citizen science kit with everything needed for patrons to engage in Globe at Night. Access all the materials and details at SciStarter.org/Library-Resources
See how your region is doing this year below. If you don't see very many data points, consider going outside tonight and contributing your own! Compare to other regions or previous years with our regional map generator.