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Week in images: 06-10 February 2023
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By European Space Agency
Week in images: 17-21 February 2025
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By European Space Agency
Week in images: 10-14 February 2025
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By NASA
Jonathan Gardner of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, was selected as a 2023 Fellow of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) for extraordinary achievement and service. He is being recognized for exceptional community service and scientific leadership of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope science teams, leading to Webb’s flight hardware exceeding all of its requirements.
Dr. Jonathan Gardner is the Deputy Senior Project Scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.Credits: Courtesy of Jonathan Gardner Gardner is the deputy senior project scientist for the Webb telescope in Goddard’s Astrophysics Science Division. Webb, which launched Dec. 25, 2021, is the largest, most powerful, and most complex space science telescope ever built. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.
John Mather, senior project scientist on Webb and a senior astrophysicist at Goddard, nominated Gardner for the fellowship. In his nomination, Mather wrote:
“Jonathan Gardner is a quiet superstar, well known to the Webb community. As deputy senior project scientist for Webb, Gardner represents the senior project scientist in all aspects of the mission, with responsibility for ensuring Webb’s scientific performance. Gardner is a tireless advocate for the scientific vision and its accurate implementation. He is the main spokesperson for Webb science throughout NASA and in the wider astronomy community. He is the person most responsible for keeping the science teams working well together and for communicating with other astronomers.”
Gardner began working on Webb as a member of the Ad-Hoc Science Working Group in the late 1990s, joining the project as the deputy senior project scientist in 2002.
Beginning in 2002, Gardner organized all the meetings and communications of the Science Working Group, which included people from the U.S., Europe, and Canada, including instrument teams and other partners. He recruited Goddard scientists for the mission’s Project Science Team, and ensured a scientist was assigned to every engineering topic. Gardner also wrote and published the scientific requirements in a dedicated issue of Space Science Reviews. He set up the Science Requirements Analysis Board to review any potential threats to the scientific goals of the mission and worked with engineering teams to avoid any failures. He represented scientific interests throughout the engineering project and throughout NASA, by ensuring regular communication between scientists, managers, and engineers.
The 2023 AAS Fellows are recognized for enhancing and sharing humanity’s scientific understanding of the universe through personal achievement and extraordinary service to the astronomical sciences and to the AAS.
AAS, established in 1899, is a major international organization of professional astronomers, astronomy educators, and amateur astronomers. Its membership of approximately 8,000 also includes physicists, geologists, engineers, and others whose interests lie within the broad spectrum of subjects now comprising the astronomical sciences. The mission of the AAS is to enhance and share humanity’s scientific understanding of the universe as a diverse and inclusive astronomical community, which it achieves through publishing, meetings, science advocacy, education and outreach, and training and professional development.
For information about NASA and agency programs, visit: https://www.nasa.gov
By Robert Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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By NASA
5 min read
February’s Night Sky Notes: How Can You Help Curb Light Pollution?
Light pollution has long troubled astronomers, who generally shy away from deep sky observing under full Moon skies. The natural light from a bright Moon floods the sky and hides views of the Milky Way, dim galaxies and nebula, and shooting stars. In recent years, human-made light pollution has dramatically surpassed the interference of even a bright full Moon, and its effects are now noticeable to a great many people outside of the astronomical community. Harsh, bright white LED streetlights, while often more efficient and long-lasting, often create unexpected problems for communities replacing their old street lamps. Some notable concerns are increased glare and light trespass, less restful sleep, and disturbed nocturnal wildlife patterns. There is increasing awareness of just how much light is too much light at night. You don’t need to give in to despair over encroaching light pollution; you can join efforts to measure it, educate others, and even help stop or reduce the effects of light pollution in your community.
Before and after pictures of replacement lighting at the 6th Street Bridge over the Los Angeles River. The second picture shows improvements in some aspects of light pollution, as light is not directed to the sides and upwards from the upgraded fixtures, reducing skyglow. However, it also shows the use of brighter, whiter LEDs, which is not generally ideal, along with increased light bounce back from the road. City of Los Angeles Amateur astronomers and potential citizen scientists around the globe are invited to participate in the Globe at Night (GaN) program to measure light pollution. Measurements are taken by volunteers on a few scheduled days every month and submitted to their database to help create a comprehensive map of light pollution and its change over time. GaN volunteers can take and submit measurements using multiple methods ranging from low-tech naked-eye observations to high-tech sensors and smartphone apps.
Globe at Night citizen scientists can use the following methods to measure light pollution and submit their results:
Their own smartphone camera and dedicated app Manually measure light pollution using their own eyes and detailed charts of the constellations A dedicated light pollution measurement device called a Sky Quality Meter (SQM). The free GaN web app from any internet-connected device (which can also be used to submit their measurements from an SQM or printed-out star charts) Night Sky Network members joined a telecon with Connie Walker of Globe at Night in 2014 and had a lively discussion about the program’s history and how they can participate. The audio of the telecon, transcript, and links to additional resources can be found on their dedicated resource page.
Light pollution has been visible from space for a long time, but new LED lights are bright enough that they stand out from older street lights, even from orbit. The above photo was taken by astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti from the ISS cupola in 2015. The newly installed white LED lights in the center of the city of Milan are noticeably brighter than the lights in the surrounding neighborhoods. NASA/ESA DarkSky International has long been a champion in the fight against light pollution and a proponent of smart lighting design and policy. Their website (at darksky.org) provides many resources for amateur astronomers and other like-minded people to help communities understand the negative impacts of light pollution and how smart lighting policies can not only help bring the stars back to their night skies but make their streets safer by using smarter lighting with less glare. Communities and individuals find that their nighttime lighting choices can help save considerable sums of money when they decide to light their streets and homes “smarter, not brighter” with shielded, directional lighting, motion detectors, timers, and even choosing the proper “temperature” of new LED light replacements to avoid the harsh “pure white” glare that many new streetlamps possess. Their pages on community advocacy and on how to choose dark-sky-friendly lighting are extremely helpful and full of great information. There are even local chapters of the IDA in many communities made up of passionate advocates of dark skies.
DarkSky International has notably helped usher in “Dark Sky Places“, areas around the world that are protected from light pollution. “Dark Sky Parks“, in particular, provide visitors with incredible views of the Milky Way and are perfect places to spot the wonders of a meteor shower. These parks also perform a very important function, showing the public the wonders of a truly dark sky to many people who may have never before even seen a handful of stars in the sky, let alone the full, glorious spread of the Milky Way.
More research into the negative effects of light pollution on the health of humans and the environment is being conducted than ever before. Watching the nighttime light slowly increase in your neighborhood, combined with reading so much bad news, can indeed be disheartening! However, as awareness of light pollution and its negative effects increases, more people are becoming aware of the problem and want to be part of the solution. There is even an episode of PBS Kid’s SciGirls where the main characters help mitigate light pollution in their neighborhood!
Astronomy clubs are uniquely situated to help spread awareness of good lighting practices in their local communities in order to help mitigate light pollution. Take inspiration from Tucson, Arizona, and other dark sky-friendly communities that have adopted good lighting practices. Tucson even reduced its skyglow by 7% after its own citywide lighting conversion, proof that communities can bring the stars back with smart lighting choices.
Originally posted by Dave Prosper: November 2018
Last Updated by Kat Troche: January 2025
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By European Space Agency
Week in images: 03-07 February 2025
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