2009 is the International Year of Astronomy, and Penn-Harris-Madison schools are celebrating the year with a project called "Let There Be Night."

On Saturday night, we caught up with students at Elm Road Elementary while they were gauging the light pollution in the night sky.

Almost 6,000 students in Michiana have been taking visual readings by comparing their view of the constellation Orion to magnitude charts.

"It is fun, and I love to learn about outer space, so this is practically the perfect thing for me to do," explained Elm Road fifth grader Haley Vandusen.

You can help support the project by participating in "Earth Hour" on March 28th.

Students are encouraging businesses in the community to turn off their lights from 8:00 to 9:00 that night.

Some restaurants -- such as Villa Macri and Uptown Kitchen -- plan to serve dinner by candlelight during that hour.

For more information about "Let There Be Night," click here.