August sees the beginning of the Preserving Legacies workshops and korero. Save the dates and do come out for both talks at the Headwaters at 7 pm. Leslie and Darren have been working hard in the background to think carefully about what our community and area needs to both preserve our environment and be resilient to climate change. Thinking about our dark skies above and protecting our wetlands below. This month we take a look at the dwarf planet Pluto…and what a surprising dwarf planet Pluto turned out to be! Next month we’ll start looking at other surprising objects you can find in the night sky.

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One year of Dark Sky newsletters!
I was checking out our first Newsletter, to make sure I don’t repeat any information about what can be seen in the sky at this time of the year.
Our first Newsletter talked about our first project…BATS!
We are pleased to bring you the results of the ongoing survey we have been doing around Glenorchy. This town is full of Long Tailed bats. We’re still searching for short tailed bats, and haven’t lost hope that we will find them. Check out the image in the newsletter to find out where we get the most bats.
In case you are wondering why so many have been recorded near the pines at the golf course, this is probably a roosting spot and it is likely that many bats are being recorded several times as they come and go from the roost.

Also

This month we’re looking at the planet Neptune. In mythology Neptune (Poseidon) is the God of the ocean. This planet is also an ice giant, and is the 8th and final recognised planet in our solar system. (We’ll talk about Pluto next month)

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This month we’re looking at the planet Uranus. In mythology Uranus (Ouranos) is the father of Kronos (Saturn). The planet it is known as an ice
giant, and is the 7th planet in our solar system. At the moment Uranus is visible in the sky for about an hour before dawn. You may need a
telescope or binoculars to see it clearly, but it is visible with the naked eye, so if you are up early … see if you can find it.

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Autumn has got off to the great start with a decent dump of snow on the tops in April. Although snow increases the amount of reflected light in the night sky, it also makes for great astrophotography. This Maywe have a blue moon. (The full moon is seen twice in a month) so all those things that only get done once in a blue moon? This is the month to do it!

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Autumn has arrived. Daylight savings ends on the first Sunday of the month…which is also Easter weekend. Clocks go back one hour and suddenly it is a lot darker in the evening, perfect for star gazing!

This month we’re looking at Jupiter. Jupiter is the king of the Roman Gods, and also the largest planet in our solar system, and the first of the gas giants.

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This coming month we’re hoping for clear skies, so we can observe the lunar eclipse on March the 3rd. We also look at the dwarf planet Ceres in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and take a look at the constellations of cancer and Leo. Autumn is getting closer with the Vernal Equinox this month on March the 20th. click below to read the latest Newsletter.

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February sees a return of darker skies earlier than the previous months and we are looking forward to getting back out and planning more night events. One event to look out for is the total lunar eclipse on 3 March. Although the actual totality of the eclipse isn’t until around midnight, we’re thinking of having an informal gathering to witness the event, and perhaps get some photos. Mars takes the spotlight as our Planet of the Month, so we’ll be shining a light on our red planetary neighbour and what we know about it. Meanwhile, we’re thinking about how to encourage more people to think about light pollution and how to reduce our light “footprint” so there’s some helpful hints in this month’s newsletter. Click the link below to open or download the newsletter

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The Dark Skies Group has some exciting projects on the horizon for the year ahead.

One of our members is diving into an online course on archaeo-astronomy—the fascinating study of ancient monuments and their connection to the stars. This fits hand in glove with our Star Compass project, so stay tuned for some cool updates.

We’re also tossing around ideas for a “Star Walk,” so you could learn more while out walking around the lagoon. We’re sorting out ideas for what this may look like, what is involved and figuring out how to make that experience come alive.

Meanwhile, work on the star compass itself is moving forward. We’re hopeful to see some marker stones set soon, helping us map out the spot where the compass will live!

To celebrate the return of the Milky Way’s centre in April, we’re planning a “night picnic” gathering for anyone curious to join us under the stars.

We also expect to be able to submit our application to be a Dark Sky Community by the end of 2026, too. And of course, there’ll be a Matariki celebration in July, too!

Venus takes the spotlight as our Planet of the Month, so we’ll be shining a light on our closest planetary neighbour and what we know about it.

click below to read the latest newsletter

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This month we take a look at the planets

We hope you enjoy your Solstice gift fridge magnet from The Dark Sky Group. Look for it in your letter box this week. For a small donation we are happy to send these out to the wider community.

Although you have to stay up late to view the stars at this time of year it is still possible to see some constellations not usually visible in winter.

We are in the process of creating a booking page for Star Tours so watch this space.

Meanwhile We hope you enjoy our latest newsletter. Click on the “open PDF ” button to read online, or download it for your viewing pleasure

Happy Solstice

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This month, we take a look at our closest star, the Sun. The constellation of Orion begins to come back into view, and we introduce a new education campaign to encourage everyone to reduce their light pollution

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This month we focus on our nearest neighbor the Moon. Lots of Moon information and stories to enjoy. Click the Open PDF file to open in a new window or download the file to read at your leisure.

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Welcome to the September Newsletter for Tahuna Glenorchy Dark Sky Sanctuary. You can download the newsletter for your viewing pleasure or click the “open PD file” button below to view full screen.

Keep an eye on our facebook page for the date of our next Star Party.

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Tahuna Glenorchy Dark Sky Group brings you our August newsletter.

To attain our Dark Sky Community status, it’s crucial to focus on the lighting situation in Glenorchy. We need to encourage homeowners to conduct a personal lighting survey or audit. Think about the following questions…

Welcome to our first Dark Sky Newsletter. Where we bring you monthly news from Glenorchy and astronomy news from around the world.

Tāhuna Glenorchy was delighted to become New Zealand’s 4th Dark Sky Sanctuary in February 2025!

The area in red on the map outlines the sanctuary. The blue area taking in Glenorchy and Kinloch are not yet part of the Sanctuary, but we are working towards becoming an International Dark Sky Community which will make us one of the first in NZ. We can all play a part in this.

Dark Sky International is an organisation formed to help reduce light pollution and protect our night sky. They say on their website that…
Thanks to more than 193,000 supporters, members, and advocates in more than 70 countries, we provide leadership, tools, and resources for individuals, policymakers, and industry, to reduce light pollution and promote responsible outdoor lighting that is beautiful, healthy, and functional.

We hope to submit our Dark Sky Community application by the end of the year.

YEAR OF THE MOTH

Meanwhile, the Tāhuna Glenorchy Dark Skies Group has lots of other projects on the go. At the Matariki Mid-winter Dinner we announced that this year is the year of the Moth. We have some speakers visiting us in September to talk to us about moths and butterflies and identify any moths we have managed to either photograph or collect in the moth diaries we gave out at the Matariki Dinner.

To create your own Moth Diary, use a notebook to record moth numbers, with dates and locations, photographs, or any dead moths you find in spiderwebs or on the windowsills. We are trying to establish a starting point of the moth population so that we can monitor any difference in moth populations as we get better at reducing our light pollution and increase plantings to encourage moths and other insect who are great pollinators (and yummy treats for our bats and birds, too).

Star Talks: We are continuing to learn about the stars and will be sharing our knowledge with you via more star talks and evenings.

The Headwaters is also offering star talks with the use of their telescope including a meal and marshmallows at their Scheelite Shelter.

S tar Compass: We have also obtained funds from QLDC to explore the establishment of a star compass.

We are visualising this as both an art installation that will also be used to teach star lore and navigation techniques and will be part of our continuing learning journey. We are looking for ideas for a suitable location for this installation as it needs to be both accessible and have a good view of the stars. Some ideas include the green space behind the skate park (although the trees might block some of the stars at that location) or alongside the lagoon board walk. This will be the first inland star compass that we know of so it will take a bit of time to get it right.

Bat Survey:

We are also pleased to announce the results of our first village bat monitoring survey. This has revealed that bats were detected in all 10 of the monitors placed around Glenorchy.

Go GY bats!

Winterstellar’s Astrophotography Exhibition has opened at Arrowtown Museum and is well worth taking a look if you are out that way and will be there til mid-July.

Learn the night
sky

The Dawn Sky

Venus is still the brightest object right now. It rises in the east at about 4:20 am in the beginning of the month and at about 5 am at the end of the month. Venus orbits the sun faster than the Earth, taking 225 days to complete one orbit. It recently passed between the Earth and the Sun and is now moving ahead of Earth in its orbit.

We can now easily see Puanga (Puaka) /Rigel in the dawn sky. As the sister of Matariki, Puanga rises earlier than Matariki and signals the start of the Matariki celebration. While the stars that mark the beginning of the Māori New Year may vary in some regions, the themes that underpin the ceremony and celebration are the same.

Takurua (the Winter Maiden)/ Sirius (The Dog Star) is also seen in the dawn sky just before sunrise. Sirius is the brightest star in the sky and just 8 light years away. It can also still be seen in the west just after sunset at about 7 o clock at the beginning of the month

The Evening Sky

The Milky Way is rising in the east at Sunset and the core of the Milky Way is easily seen. This is the brightest and broadest spot between the constellations of Scorpius and Sagittarius.

To the north east is an orange star called Arcturus and it sets in the west at around midnight. Don’t confuse it with the red planet, Mars, which can be seen in the North West. It will set in the west at about 9:40 at the moment it is about 300 million kms away!

To the south the bright star Canopus can be seen. Canopus is circumpolar which means it is always visible in the sky and is an important navigation star.

The Southern Cross (Crux) and the pointers Alpha and Beta Centauri are almost directly overhead right now.

HOT TIP The phone app Stellarium is a great aid in identifying stars in the night sky. We highly recommend giving it a try for learning what’s up there in the night skies.

We hope you enjoyed this month’s newsletter.
Let us know if there are things you’d like to
learn about or just send us a hello at

https://glenorchydarkskies.org.nz/contact/

Keep it starry!
The Tāhuna Glenorchy Dark Skies Crew

Stars Align for Tāhuna Glenorchy Dark Sky Sanctuary

The Tāhuna Glenorchy Dark Sky Sanctuary was announced today by Dark Sky International making it the fourth Dark Sky Sanctuary in New Zealand and 23rd worldwide.

Located in New Zealand’s astronomical sweet spot on the 45th parallel and within an hour’s drive of Queenstown, it will be one of the rare places on the planet to see the Total Solar Eclipse in 2028 and the only designated Dark Sky Sanctuary in its path.

Located at the head of Lake Whakatipu and encompassing 200,000 hectares stretching from Bennett’s Bluff to the northern boundary of Mt Aspiring National Park and bounded by the Humbolt and Richardson mountains, over 75% of the Sanctuary falls into UNESCO Te Wahipounamu World Heritage Wilderness. The Routeburn, Greenstone-Caples and Rees-Dart tracks all fall within its limits. The Sanctuary surrounds the townships of Glenorchy and Kinloch and in the coming year, they will be brought into the Dark Sky Places program as a Dark Sky Community in an approach similar to Kaikoura.

The Dark Sky Sanctuary above will reflect the Conservation Sanctuary below

Coupled with the extensive conservation work taking place in the same area, the Dark Sky Sanctuary above will reflect the existing conservation sanctuary below for the first time.

This will provide a rare haven for those who want to do the Great Walks during the day, encounter a newly released takahē at dusk, and lay out under the Milky Way at night to marvel at the night skies from the shore of one of the deepest lakes in New Zealand, look out from the comfort of Glenorchy’s range of accommodation, or see the stars from atop snowy mountain peaks.

One of the Sanctuary’s key aims is to engage with Kāi Tahu (Ngāi Tahu) to improve everyone’s understanding of Mātauraka Kāi Tahu and to come to understand the knowledge that is held in the planets and the stars that have helped guide countless previous generations.

Tāhuna Glenorchy the first inland sanctuary of its kind.

Queenstown Lakes is a big tourism destination, and we need to encourage a slower, regenerative form of visitation – we’re looking forward to welcoming future astro- tourists to stay longer, tread lightly and enjoy the wonder of our night skies.”

Thanks must go to the tremendous efforts of the team involved in making this happen. This milestone marks the creation of the first inland sanctuary of its kind, a significant accomplishment for all those who have contributed.”

“We’ve had an amazing group from the community who’ve worked on this project for the last 5 years,” says Chair Dr. Leslie Van Gelder, “While none of us knew anything about astronomy at the start, our team of 12 spanning three generations, have upskilled in brilliant ways learning about lighting, moths and bats, staying up late measuring darkness, holding community events and the annual Matariki dinner, going to star courses, and partnering in with the QLDC Libraries and Tūhuru Otago Museum for talks and educational programs for the whole community. Glenorchy got in behind us and we’ve had huge support all the way through. It has truly taken a village and it’s all just beginning for us.”

The group has also been funded through LoveQT to work with the Southern Lakes Sanctuary to do a study in the Rees Valley looking for the elusive short-tailed bat while also developing a bat monitoring program within the township to match their dark sky measurement program.

The Department of Conservation’s support has been integral to the project, with hut rangers helping take dark sky readings in remote parts of the Sanctuary.

David Butt, Pou Matarautaki Operations Manager – Whakatipu-wai-Māori, Te Papa Atawhai Department of Conservation said, “DOC was excited to support the application of the Tāhuna Glenorchy Dark Sky Sanctuary and our hut rangers played an important role in taking the necessary light readings in difficult to access areas. The Department of Conversation manages a large part of the new sanctuary, with Mt Aspiring National Park straddling the spectacular mountains and valleys at the southern end of the Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana – renowned for its exceptional beauty and large core of wilderness. The new designation will further protect these values into the future”.

https://darksky.org/https://darksky.org/

Tahuna Glenorchy was pleased and proud to become the very first Winterstellar Astronomical site on the 30th of November 2024

Tāhuna Glenorchy Dark Skies Project Chair Leslie Van Gelder says they feel so honoured to be the first of the Winterstellar Astronomical Sites.

“We especially love the approach Winterstellar are taking in encouraging community groups in dark and starry places to come together, not only to protect our own sites, but ultimately to work as a team in protecting as much of our incredible region as we can.”

If your community or group are interested in pursuing an official Winterstellar Astronomical Site recognition you are encouraged to contact Andy Davey, Winterstellar CEO by the following email: andy@winterstellar.com

August 2026 Newsletter

July 2026 Newsletter

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May 2026 Newsletter

Newsletter April 2026

March 2026 Newsletter

February 2026 Newsletter

January 2026 Newsletter