Shedding light on a world of darkness

The first observatory at Mt John near Lake Tekapo opened in 1965.

An Indian-born theoretical physicist has written eloquently in support of plans to establish a World Heritage Park of the Night Sky at Mt John near Lake Tekapo.

Dharam Vir Ahluwalia-Khalilova tells how the light bulb has obliterated a vital aspect of the village where he was born under the stars in 1952.

"The light of the light bulb has now taken away the ancient light of the Milky Way, and galaxies beyond.

"Homesickness for that beautiful sky of that remote Indian village" is felt by millions of people, he wrote.

The idea of a night sky heritage park is being pushed by a group connected to the Mt John observatory.

Preservation of a dark world is a way of ensuring the wonder of the celestial world is not lost and is something New Zealand can cash in on, says heritage park supporter Graeme Murray.

He, and Japanese-born partner Hideyuki Ozawa, have also set up Earth & Sky to sell star gazing tours atop Mt John.

Increasing light pollution in the Northern Hemisphere has lifted the value of the night sky, says Mr Murray.

"This is as precious as Fiordland. The light pollution in the Northern Hemisphere means people just don't see the stars."

When a group of Japanese exit the bus on the 1031m summit of Mt John, there is invariably a strange collective sound of oohs and ahs emitted, he says.

"I met a group of English people who never dreamed when they left England this was what they would do. They were totally overwhelmed by it."

Mr Murray believes people want to know more about the sky above.

"It doesn't matter who the person is, there is a desire to know more about what's going on up there."

Most people can't identify the stars and many from the Northern Hemisphere don't realise we in the south see different stars, he says.

Mt John has long been used for astronomical observation because of the dark surrounds, southern position and high percentage (60 per cent) of clear nights.

A $7 million partnership between astronomers at the universities of Canterbury, Auckland, Victoria and Nagoya in Japan has built a new 1.8m cutting-edge microlensing telescope.

Observatories were first built on Mt John in the 1960s during the Vietnam War with strong suspicion of backing by the US military. In 1969, the US Air Force built a satellite tracking station, installed a water supply and sealed the road. The US installation and its sizeable staff were the target of anti-war protests in the 1970s. The USAF facility was shut in the early 1980s.

Earth & Sky paid "several hundred thousand dollars" towards a computer building mainly used by universities. In exchange it obtained the rights to take up tours.

The company has access to a couple of older telescopes and uses a powerful set of binoculars.

Adults pay $48 for the tour, which takes two hours. Customers are taken up in a small bus, warm clothes are advised.

Half way up, the vehicle turns off its lights, often to the surprise of passengers. There are strict lighting restrictions around the observatories and the district council supports lighting restrictions.

After customers disembark in the car park, guides use laser light pointers to orientate people to the stars.

Assuming clear weather, visitors then go into the observatory for detailed star searching. The telescopes fix on various celestial objects and people take turns viewing.

"My dream is that everybody in New Zealand should see Saturn through a telescope," says Mr Murray.

"That is the most staggering thing - it caught me. When you look through a telescope and see those coloured rings - that wrenched me right into that little world of astronomy. It took the wind out of my sales."

Equally impressive is the sight of the "storm lands" on Jupiter and the Megallanic Clouds, dwarf galaxies that orbit our Milky Way galaxy and are not visible from the Northern Hemisphere.

If the weather is murky, an educational tour is offered including an exploration of the big new telescope which astronomers obviously can't use in such weather. Earth & Sky is also investigating installing a telescope at the Hermitage at Aoraki Mt Cook with an optical link to Mt John.

Over 8000 people have paid for the tour since it began in October. Some nights over 100 people visit, with tours being staggered in so that each group doesn't have more than 30 in it.

Earth & Sky also runs a one hour $30 day tour which Mr Murray says is more challenging to make work. A solar telescope allows visitors to view sun spots flaring and see the binary star, Alpha Centauri, the nearest star.

People are taken through the observatory and told about the space programme as well as given a rundown on the local legend of sheep rustler James McKenzie and the Tekapo-Otaki hydro power scheme.

Earth & Sky's five-year plan would require a $5 million investment in infrastructure, which Mr Murray admits will be beyond his resources.

The company has creative plans to publicise its venture. Mr Murray has connections to British businessman Sir Richard Branson, who has a well known interest in space, and he hopes to get the publicity-hungry billionaire to boost the project.

"He doesn't know it yet, but I've already got my telescope on him," he said.

The company made a DVD to try and get support from the Smithsonian Institute in the US, but the person involved in that project died shortly before he was due to visit the institute.

Mr Murray admits that large scale development could threaten his goal of creating an eco-friendly tourism venture.

"It's a very fine line. Whatever happens, the real purpose of Mt John is astronomy."


Star quality

* Mt John near Tekapo was an ideal site when the first observatory opened in 1965. It had clear nights, the dark sky was largely unaffected by town lights, and power, water and main roads are at hand.

* Nearby Lake Tekapo village has grown, increasing night sky brightness. Mackenzie District Council rules require that all outside lights do not shine upward into the sky. Subdivision developers use observatory-friendly, low-pressure sodium lighting.

- NZPA