The National Competition has ended “I light up less to see the stars again”an integral part of the XXIV edition of the National Astronomy Week, announced by the Ministry of Education and Merit – Department for the education and training system – General Directorate for School Regulations, Evaluation and internationalization of the National Astronomy System Instruction.
The Astronomy Week is assigned, for the organization, to Italian Astronomical Societywhich operates in synergy with the National Institute of Astrophysics and the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria, identified, through the Pythagoras Planetarium, as the operational headquarters for teaching and dissemination activities and the venue for the Competition.
More people took part in the initiative 60 schools, distributed uniformly throughout the national territory. There were 2300 measurements reporting the variations in the brightness of the sky during the night, recorded at different times and places. The analysis of the results reports a rather worrying situation in the skies of our country.
In highly urbanized centres, light pollution risks taking away the night, the Milky Way is no longer visible and, in the best of cases, stars up to the third magnitude are observable.
Light pollution not only prevents the observation of the spectacle of the starry sky, defined in 1992 by UNESCO as a “World Heritage Site”, and astronomers from carrying out their observations, but it is also an important source of energy waste.
This is why it is important that we become aware of this problem. The Ministry’s initiative, in fact, tends to raise awareness among students and the general public on the problems related to light pollution, with particular attention to the cultural and economic implications, sharing information on regulations and good practices that allow to limit the phenomenon. The competition offers the opportunity to enhance the role of planetariums as places in which to return to seeing the sky as it would appear without this harmful anthropic effect.
Below is the ranking of the winners, divided into the two categories:
Lower secondary schools
1st prize
IC Villanterio – Piero Addobati
Villanterio (PV)
2nd prize
IC Giacinto Romano
Eboli (SA)
3rd prize
IC Ercolano 2 Giampaglia Iaccarino
Herculaneum (NA)
Secondary schools
1st prize
Gaia Palumbo “Leonardo da Vinci” Scientific High School
Reggio Calabria
2nd prize
Massimiliano Massimo Institute
Rome
2nd prize ex aequo
Marco Emili “Alessandro Volta” Scientific High School
Reggio Calabria
3rd prize
IIS Giovanni Falcone
Asola (MN)
Merit diplomas
“Pietro Colonna” High School – Galatina (LE)
Daniele Spagnolo “Leonardo da Vinci” Scientific High School – Reggio Calabria
The awards ceremony will be held on Thursday 20 June at 5.30 pm at the National Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria, in conjunction with the Summer Solstice, an astronomical event that the competition wants to celebrate in the name of young people.
Below is the program:
Institutional greetings
Dr. Fabrizio Sudano, MarRC Director
Lawyer Giuseppe Falcomatà, Mayor of the Metropolitan City
Prof. Anna Brancaccio, Director of the Ministry of Education and Merit
Dr. Filippo Quartuccio, Delegate for Culture of the Metropolitan City
Dr. Angelo Antonelli, Vice President of the Italian Astronomical Society
Prof. Roberto Ragazzoni, President of the National Institute of Astrophysics
The Summer Solstice
Prof. Angela Misiano
Scientific director of Planetarium Pythagoras
Conference
“Too much light is bad”
Prof. Patrizia Caraveo
National Institute of Astrophysics-Brera Astronomical Observatory
Presentation of the “M’illumino di meno” competition
Prof. Anna Brancaccio
President of the Commission
Awards ceremony
National Competition
“I light up less…to see the stars again”
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