Protecting our starry night
The centre of the Milky Way runs right over our heads, making New Zealand one of the best places in the world to see our glorious galaxy.
With so many people now living in cities, the Milky Way is now hidden from more than a third of humanity, including 60 per cent of Europeans and nearly 80 per cent of North Americans.
Now Nalayini Davies with the International Dark Sky Association, and who backed Great Barrier Island becoming the third Dark Sky Sanctuary in August 2017, is confident this northern area would qualify for dark sky protection.
Davies found Great Barrier Island, with its lack of reticulated power 90 kilometres from central Auckland, had night skies free from light pollution.
Three small astro-tourism businesses have sprung up.
At Lake Tekapo the Aoraki MacKenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, home to University of Canterbury’s Mt John Observatory receives around 200,000 visitors each year.
Much of Rodney, especially Pa¯ kiri and the Kaipara hills, are the best places in north Auckland for viewing the night sky.
The Pa¯ kiri cliffs are already historic for radio astronomy. Combined Pa¯ kiri and Piha cliff readings in 1948, pin-pointing radio waves were coming from the famous Crab Nebula saw the birth of radio astronomy. The Piha site is on the Hillary Trail while the Pakiri cliff site is part of the proposed Big O¯ maha Trail.
But keeping the night free of light pollution also protects native wildlife.
Artificial lighting at night can disrupt young petrel and shearwater as they depart their colonies, Northern New Zealand Seabird Trust project co-ordinator Chris Gaskin said.
They turn up at Mangawhai, Omaha and East Coast Bays where they are at risk from cats and dogs, on boats if deck lights are left on, and cruise and cargo ships.
Rare native bats also benefit with less pressure from street lighting, Auckland Council senior biodiversity advisor and native bat expert Ben Paris said. Artificial lights can interfere with flight corridors of bats like lit bridges over rivers. They also disrupt moths which bats feed on.
It is important to do something now before Auckland gets too big, Davies said.