PROTECTING THE BEAUTY OF DARKNESS

Hong Kong is famous for its night skyline around the world, but it comes at a cost: there's lots of light pollution which makes life difficult for local astronomers. This challenge hasn't stopped Exodus Sit from campaigning relentlessly for night skies both here and abroad. Graduating with a HKUST degree in mathematics, Exodus was also the Chairperson of the Astronomy Club in his college life.

His love for astronomy extends far beyond the campus however; he's already won the International Dark Sky Association's Rising Star Award for his advocacy for night skies, and has spoken at the same organization on using modern digital media channels to improve public outreach and education regarding dark sky preservation. Additionally, Exodus is a TEDx Educational Motivational Speaker, External Vice-President of Starrix and guest speaker of Hong Kong Space Museum.

In 2020, Exodus had become the International Committee (Asia and Oceania Region) of the International Dark-Sky Association and took part in the International Astronomical Union, appointed as the National Astronomy Education Coordinator (Chair of Hong Kong). He was soon being invited as conference speaker of the IDA Under One Sky 2020 Global Conference, sharing his experience of social innovation on dark-sky protection and promoting popular science through STEAM Education.

Passionate for music as well, Exodus combined his interests together by sending a Cantonese song "Deep Sky Objects" into outer space via a high-altitude balloon. That's serious dedication. It's also this drive that earned him HKUST's Tin Ka Ping Scholarship (Arts), which the University created in 2019 to further encourage students to pursue their dreams in creative pursuits. "Science or arts, it goes back to the heart of education. In fact, in the old days, Renaissance astronomists had to be well-versed in the arts, philosophy, and science," Exodus said.