Astronomy
These are various projects in astronomy and light pollution
abatement.
For further information on any of these projects, you are welcome to enquire by
email: phiscock at ee.ryerson.ca
A paper showing the effect of
street lighting on sky glow. This paper was subsequently published in the
Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, October 2010, Volume
104, No.5, pp 190-193: 'The Contribution of Street Lighting to Light
Pollution'.
A paper showing various methods
of measuring camera shutter speed, including a technique that will work for
digital cameras.
Images from the camera
shutter speed calibration paper, collected into one zip file.
A paper 'Data Acquisition
System' describing hardware and software for street light level data
collection. The emphasis is on using the Tcl language 'socket' mechanism.
Code related to this paper.
A paper 'A Sky Quality
Meter Display' describing Tcl software that runs under Linux, Windows (and
possibly Mac) for reading the Unihedron Sky Quality Meter SQM-LU. The Tcl program related to this
paper.
Some modifications of the Meade
ETX-60 GOTO telescope.
A
PowerPoint presentation on astronomy in Toronto parks, with
recommendations on improving the park environment for astronomy.
A
PowerPoint presentation on the effects of light pollution on animals,
birds and insects.
Images in these presentations are not copyright cleared. The presentation is
for non-commercial, educational use, so fair use provisions should apply.
Please contact me if have any concerns about the use of the images.
A
Summary of lighting regulations in the City of Toronto.
The following 7 papers relate to the measurement of luminance using a
digital camera.
Measuring Luminance with a
Digital Camera. A method of calibrating a
digital camera for measurement of luminance.
Description of a
light-integrating sphere , constructed to serve as a luminance source for
calibration.
Measuring Reflectance
Simple apparatus for measuring the reflectance of various surfaces.
Modifying a
point-and-shoot camera to add additional features, using the Canon Hacker
Development Kit.
On the Brightness of Candles . A
measurement of the illuminance of three candles over a period of time, to
see if a candle can be used as an illuminance standard. (It can't.)
On the brightness of the
moon. A brief investigation of using the moon as a luminance standard.
Measuring Light An
introduction to the measurement of illuminance and luminance.