Masterton first in online stargazing

Wairarapa astronomers have chosen rural Masterton to build the first online observatory in New Zealand that students can use to peer at the heavens from their classrooms.

IT architect and lifelong stargazer Terence Galuszka said the Kea observatory, which will be worth up to $100,000, will take about six months to construct on a 6ha lifestyle farm about 25km east of the town.

"Our aim is to have a fully robotic dome, so the whole thing can be automated, and a research grade telescope can be run remotely by senior colleges and university students in the wider Wellington region," he said.

Mr Galuszka discovered his rural Masterton property had the perfect dark skies under which to "home the dome" and that sparked a secondary ambition to win approval for the site as an International Dark Sky Reserve.

"We had been looking for dark skies in Wairarapa for a few years and found some of the best near Wellington were out here at Stronvar."

The Aoraki-Mackenzie Dark-Sky Reserve in the South Island a year ago became the first of its kind in New Zealand, the second in the Southern Hemisphere, and the fourth in the world. Mr Galuszka said the southern reserve also contained Canterbury University's Mt John Observatory and had been rated a gold-level site, meaning its skies are almost completely free from light pollution.

"The southern reserve has the only gold status in the world, with a sky quality rating of 21.9. We used a meter out here on Friday night and got a sky quality of 21.4."

Mr Galuszka and Antony Gomez, a Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand council member who is studying for a PhD in astrophysics (radio) at Victoria University, were installing the dome and its systems last week.

The pair of stargazers are part of a group of about a dozen Wairarapa astronomers affiliated to the Galactic Kiwi non-profit educational outreach organisation, which develops and provides free access to science and astronomy programmes and equipment to schools.

Students will link via the internet to the observatory site at Stronvar, despite the remote area having only microwave and dial-up net access.

"Dial-up will be the backup last resort in case of emergency," he said.

Mr Galuszka said the group had been holding astronomy evenings at his property since January and a fortnight ago captured shots of the Aurora Australis.

The group had also led astronomy classes for senior pupils at colleges in the Hutt that would be extended to Wairarapa colleges when the automated Kea observatory goes live.

For more information, go online to www.facebook.com/GalacticKiwi.