{"id":15766,"date":"2021-01-21T00:01:43","date_gmt":"2021-01-21T07:01:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/?p=15766"},"modified":"2023-08-23T23:49:01","modified_gmt":"2023-08-24T06:49:01","slug":"meet-star-gazers-stargazing-app","status":"publish","type":"darksky_news","link":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/news\/meet-star-gazers-stargazing-app\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Sujay Patil: Founder of the Meet Star Gazers app"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Each month DarkSky International features a DarkSky Advocate from the worldwide network of volunteers who are working to protect the night. This month we\u2019re highlighting the work of DarkSky Delegate and founder of stargazing app Meet Star Gazers, Sujay Patil, in Paris, France. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sujay Patil is an amateur astronomer from India, now based in Paris, France. He is a mechanical engineer by education and is the creator of the Meet Star Gazers mobile app<\/a>. When he is not coding, he can be found sketching and reading graphic novels or books on entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amateur astronomer to founder of Meet Star Gazers<\/h2>\n\n\n
\"Meet<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As an amateur astronomer living in Paris, Sujay struggled to find the right places to observe the night sky and began the journey to solve this problem. It is well known that the best telescope is not the biggest one, but the one you use most often. He believes that similar logic applies to locations for observing the night sky. The best location is not necessarily the darkest one, but the one closest to you. Locations near you allow you to admire the night sky more often. This was when he started studying the process of characterizing dark sky locations and became the Meet Star Gazers mobile app’s genesis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this process, he also realized the role of light pollution, which drew him into dark sky advocacy. The Meet Star Gazers mobile app consolidates and characterizes the best locations for stargazing. By design, the app encourages and simplifies the discovery of dark sky locations close to you, with its main audience being beginners in stargazing or astrophotography. Meet Star Gazers provides contextual information about each location and removes hurdles to enjoying the night sky more often. Stargazing locations on Meet Star Gazers are curated from astronomy festivals, star parties, conferences, and user suggestions. The map will only get better with time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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