{"id":19855,"date":"2022-08-23T11:20:34","date_gmt":"2022-08-23T18:20:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/?p=19855"},"modified":"2023-08-23T23:48:13","modified_gmt":"2023-08-24T06:48:13","slug":"marcelo-de-olivera-souza-monthly-star-2","status":"publish","type":"darksky_news","link":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/news\/marcelo-de-olivera-souza-monthly-star-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Marcelo de Olivera Souza: Brazil\u2019s night-sky teacher"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><i><span>Each month DarkSky International features a DarkSky Advocate from the worldwide network of volunteers working to protect the night. This month we\u2019re highlighting the work of Marcelo de Olivera Souza in Brazil.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-embed-handler wp-block-embed-embed-handler wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Meet IDA Advocate Marcelo de Oliveira Souza!\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_gTizxlcYV0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><span>On the central coast of Brazil, there is a vast salt lagoon sitting on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. At night, the stars rise over the coast. The Milky Way stretches in a creamy line over the lake\u2019s saline water. Looking out to sea, there is not much light pollution, and even less so back when Marcelo de Olivera Souza spent time there as a child.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span>\u201cIt was a place with little light pollution. When there was a full moon, my parents would call me and my sister outside to look at the moon. When it rose in front of our house on the lake, that was a fantastic image,\u201d he recalls.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span>Marcelo could rightly be called Brazil\u2019s favorite night-sky professor. An astrophysicist and cosmologist, Marcelo has been teaching astronomy to university students and the public in Brazil for more than 30 years.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full wp-image-19862\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1154\" src=\"https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/20220813_195624-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-19862\" srcset=\"https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/20220813_195624-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/20220813_195624-scaled-600x270.jpg 600w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/20220813_195624-scaled-480x216.jpg 480w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/20220813_195624-scaled-1440x649.jpg 1440w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/20220813_195624-scaled-240x108.jpg 240w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/20220813_195624-scaled-720x325.jpg 720w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/20220813_195624-scaled-1536x692.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/20220813_195624-scaled-2048x923.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/20220813_195624-scaled-2160x974.jpg 2160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption pt-4 mx-5 md:mx-0 !mb-0 !mt-0\">Public observation of the Moon and Saturn at the Main Public Square of the city of Campos dos Goytacazes. Credit: R&oacute;bson Chagas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><span>\u201cI like to be in contact with people and talk about science for them,\u201d he says. And his passion for public outreach is clear to see. In addition to teaching astrophysics at the Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense (UENF), he founded and coordinates the hugely popular Louis Cruls Astronomy Club in the city of Campos dos Goytacazes. For 26 years, the club has drawn hundreds of participants for online events and urban stargazing sessions around the city.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span>Marcelo regularly appears in the Brazilian media, including writing a weekly newspaper column. He has brought numerous astronauts to Brazil for speaking events, including Buzz Aldrin, Charlie Duke, Paolo Nespoli, and Anousheh Ansari. He arranged for Brazilian students to participate in the Global Science Opera in 2021, for which they wrote songs about light pollution and astronomy. During the pandemic, he presented \u201cdrive-in astronomy\u201d events at a shopping center: an imaginative option for Covid-safe gatherings.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span>In 2021, Marcelo assisted in the founding of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/darksky.org\/our-work\/conservation\/idsp\/parks\/desengano-state-park-brazil\/\"><span>Desengano International Dark Sky Park<\/span><\/a><span> \u2014 the first DarkSky-certified dark-sky place in Latin America. The park covers a huge area (more than 1,400 sq km\/540 sq mi) and touches three cities: Santa Maria Madalena, which serves as the park\u2019s headquarters, S\u00e3o Fid\u00e9lis, and Campos dos Goytacazes, where Marcelo lives. The interior is almost entirely wild mountains and forests with night hiking trails and camping.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full wp-image-19866\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Lunar-Eclipse-Observation-2018.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-19866\" srcset=\"https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Lunar-Eclipse-Observation-2018.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Lunar-Eclipse-Observation-2018-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Lunar-Eclipse-Observation-2018-480x270.jpg 480w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Lunar-Eclipse-Observation-2018-240x135.jpg 240w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Lunar-Eclipse-Observation-2018-720x405.jpg 720w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption pt-4 mx-5 md:mx-0 !mb-0 !mt-0\">Public Observation of the Total Lunar Eclipse in 2018 at a bridge in the city of Campos dos Goytacazes. Credit: the team of the Louis Cruls Astronomy Club<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><span>The dark-sky park has been a great thing for the region, he says. \u201cThe City of Santa Maria Madalena now has a plan to change to change all the city\u2019s public lights because, now, the people are talking about it and calling it \u2018The City of the Stars.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span>He was also recently invited to a regional tourism meeting to speak about the potential of astrotourism. And he has his own tourism project in the works: a stargazing experience at a rural farm adjacent to the dark-sky park.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span>Speaking to Marcelo, his enthusiasm and energy are palpable. He\u2019s a natural teacher. I asked him what has kept him motivated for over three decades, and he says it\u2019s his questions about the universe that keep him going. And preserving access to the night sky for younger people.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full wp-image-19865\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1440\" src=\"https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Drive-In-of-Astronomy-2021-3-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-19865\" srcset=\"https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Drive-In-of-Astronomy-2021-3-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Drive-In-of-Astronomy-2021-3-scaled-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Drive-In-of-Astronomy-2021-3-scaled-480x270.jpg 480w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Drive-In-of-Astronomy-2021-3-scaled-1440x810.jpg 1440w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Drive-In-of-Astronomy-2021-3-scaled-240x135.jpg 240w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Drive-In-of-Astronomy-2021-3-scaled-720x405.jpg 720w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Drive-In-of-Astronomy-2021-3-scaled-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Drive-In-of-Astronomy-2021-3-scaled-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Drive-In-of-Astronomy-2021-3-scaled-2160x1215.jpg 2160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption pt-4 mx-5 md:mx-0 !mb-0 !mt-0\">The Drive In of Astronomy developed in 2021 at the Boulevard Shopping in the city of Campos dos Goytacazes. Credit: the team of the Louis Cruls Astronomy Club<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><span>\u201cThe cosmos helps us to see the world in a different way because you see that you are very small,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen I go with students or young people, like my daughters, to a very dark region, they look to the sky and see something different than they see in the city: the Milky Way. It\u2019s something that we need to preserve for the new generation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full wp-image-19867\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1154\" src=\"https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/20220822_091903-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-19867\" srcset=\"https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/20220822_091903-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/20220822_091903-scaled-600x270.jpg 600w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/20220822_091903-scaled-480x216.jpg 480w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/20220822_091903-scaled-1440x649.jpg 1440w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/20220822_091903-scaled-240x108.jpg 240w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/20220822_091903-scaled-720x325.jpg 720w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/20220822_091903-scaled-1536x692.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/20220822_091903-scaled-2048x923.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/darksky.org\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/20220822_091903-scaled-2160x974.jpg 2160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption pt-4 mx-5 md:mx-0 !mb-0 !mt-0\">Project Young Stars of Tomorrow at the Col&eacute;gio Estadual Coronel Jo&atilde;o Batista de Paula Barroso. Credit: Binha Dauma<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><i><span>You can see many of Marcelo\u2019s outreach projects and presentations on the Louis Cruls Astronomy Club\u2019s <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=iwCASQQn6oo\"><i><span>YouTube<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span> channel, or follow them on Facebook <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/louiscruls\"><i><span>https:\/\/facebook.com\/louiscruls<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span> and Instagram <\/span><\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/instagram.com\/louiscruls\"><i><span>@louiscruls<\/span><\/i><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>To join the DarkSky Advocate Network, <a href=\"https:\/\/darksky.org\/who-we-are\/advocates\/\">go here!<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Brazilian astrophysicist Marcelo de Olivera Souza promotes astronomy education and dark sky preservation, including creation of the Desengano International Dark Sky Park.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":19860,"template":"","categories":[1287,633],"tags":[741,108,737,351,727,738,734,739,736,116,731,730,742,735,726,681,740,732,733,729,728],"advocacy_type":[123,151,285],"events_terms":[],"locations_terms":[],"admin_issue":[],"class_list":["post-19855","darksky_news","type-darksky_news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-monthly-star","category-news","tag-anousheh-ansari","tag-astronomy","tag-astrophysics","tag-astrotourism","tag-brazil","tag-buzz-aldrin","tag-campos-dos-goytacazes","tag-charlie-duke","tag-cosmology","tag-darksky-advocate","tag-desango-international-dark-sky-park","tag-global-science-opera","tag-latin-america","tag-louis-cruls-astronomy-club","tag-marcelo-de-olivera","tag-monthly-star","tag-paolo-nespoli","tag-santa-maria-madalena","tag-sao-fidelis","tag-uenf","tag-universidade-estadual-do-norte-fluminense","advocacy_type-advocacy","advocacy_type-education","advocacy_type-monthly-star"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/darksky_news\/19855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/darksky_news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/darksky_news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19855"},{"taxonomy":"advocacy_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/advocacy_type?post=19855"},{"taxonomy":"events_terms","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/events_terms?post=19855"},{"taxonomy":"locations_terms","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/locations_terms?post=19855"},{"taxonomy":"admin_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/admin_issue?post=19855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}