HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN IACO?

It is very simple. In order to access to project IACO, follow the following steps:

1- You can inscribe yourself to project IACO as an individual or as an organization: school center, university, organism, company, etc. Enter at Preinscripción and fill the data in.

2- To participate, you’ll need the following documentation::

a) Sky Charts for the light pollution and sky quality registry.

b) Form for data introduction

  • Charts (in PDF format) that we must take with us.
  • Through Internet, in the section "Add a measure" at this website.

3- Observation:

a) Materials that we must take with us:

  • I: It is necessary to go well-equiped against cold.
  • II: We also must carry a red light flashlight (it can also be a normal flashlight, covered with transparent red cellophane paper, hold in place with a rubber band).
  • III: A ballpoint pen
  • IV: The forms and the observation charts printed in paper.
  • V. It is also advised to carry a compass to locate the north if we have some difficulty finding the polestar (North), and also a thermometer and a hygrometer (if posible) to contribute to data on temperature and ambient humidity.

b) When beginning the observation, first you must adapt your eyes to the surrounding dark. For this purpose, you must be waiting for 15 minutes turning no light on, only the surrounding environmental light.

c) Start the obsevation gazing to the constellations selected in the corresponding month.

d) Compare the stars that appear in each chart frame with which you see in the sky.

e) Assign it the corresponding magnitude number that appears at the frame’s foot.

4- Telematic data sending: Send the data by Internet to the direction: www.iaco.es in “Add a measure”. For that purpose, you’ll need to have the following data beforehand:

a) Geographical coordinates of the place: latitude, longitude and altitude. You can obtain these data via Google Earth, a GPS or a map of the zone with scale 1:50.000.

5- Participants: All the citizens, Secondary School students, High School students, Formation Cycles students, Univerity students, teachers, families… can participate. The onlu requisite is the ability to recognize some of the constellations where they are going away to carry out the measures: The Plow (a.ka. Big Dipper), Orión the hunter, the Lion and The Herdsman, a.k.a. the Ploughman (Bootes). If some constellation cannot be observed because any kind of obstacle (building, mountain, clouds, etc.) existed at the observation place, please write down under ‘observations’ the reason because the measurement couldn’t be carried out. The students can participate independently or guided by their professors.

In order to favor the participation of all the people who wish to participate, the Sociedad Malagueña de Astronomía will maintain a support service via e-mail at info@astromalaga.es to solve whichever doubts can arise to the participants.




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