STARLIGHT 2019 CONFERENCE, Tekapo, New Zealand
The town of Tekapo, in the Aoraki Mackenzie District.
A view looking north towards the freshly snow-caped mountains. (Photo by Robert Dick)
The 2019 Starlight Conference was held in Tekapo, New Zealand. Although there were 113 delegates, many who would have liked to attend, could not. Therefore the RASC videotaped the talks and present them here, and on the Starlight website. We hope you will find these presentations interesting and helpful.
For more about the conference read the articles in the 2020 RASC Journals or visit the Starlight 2019 website.
Videos of the published talks are described in the following list in the order they were presented. A few presentations are missing because we did not receive permission to post from all speakers.
Although permission was granted, the video recording of Gareth Hughes (Member of Parliament and Green Party Tourism Spokesperson) did not survive the transfer from New Zealand to Canada. Title: Treasuring our dark skies for our people, our environment and for the world to see.
Most of the 113 delegates stand outside the community hall in Tekapo
where the talks were presented. (Photo by Babak Tafreshi)
We apologize for the recording quality. They were made with an old video camera and the quality of the imagery is not up to current standards. More legible presentation slides are posted on this page of the Starlight Website.
Sunday, October 20
| 6:00 | Conference Opening (1:06:09) |
Monday, October 21
| 9:00 | Ruskin Hartley, Executive Director of the International Dark Sky Association, Tucson Arizona, USA Celebrating the Night: From the flash of a firefly to the star studded sky (27:32) |
| 9:35 | Adam Dalton, International Dark Sky Places Program Manager, IDA, Tucson Arizona, USA International Dark Sky Places and New Zealand: Status Report (17:28) |
| 9:55 | Robert Dick, RASC-LPAC, Ontario, Canada The Canadian Dark-Sky Preserve Program and the Guidelines for Outdoor Lighting (20:32) |
| 10:15 | Pedro Sanhueza, Office for the Protection of the Night Sky of Northern Chile (OPCC) (with Guillermo Damke, Universidad de La Serena/AURA Inc. Chile, Rodolfo Angeloni, Universidad de La Serena, Chile, Miguel Martínez, OPCC, Chile Hugo Rojas, OPCC, Chile) Protecting the Night Sky of Northern Chile: A Proposal to Restrict Spectral Emissions in the Era of LED (12:23) |
| 11:45 | Richard Somerville-Ryan, Great Barrier Island – Aotea Protecting Beyond the Back of Beyond - The Great Barrier Island International Dark Sky Sanctuary (13:52) |
| 12:15 | David Welch, Chair of the IUCN Dark Skies Advisory Group, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (presented by Robert Dick) Dark Sky Places of the World: The evolution of the dark sky place idea, and where its at today (10:13) |
| 2:00 | Richard Wainscoat, Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA Preserving the dark night sky at observatories in the era of LED lighting (30:24) |
| 2:30 | Mike Geddis, EnergyLight, Christchurch The Dark Sky - Light Pollution and how to reduce it (14:45) |
| 2:45 | David Mitchell, Lumican, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Responsible lighting choices and the undeniable data (10:51) |
| 3:00 | Marnie Ogg, Sydney, Australia - Australasian Dark Sky Alliance Dark Skies, a movement around the globe (16:21) |
| 3:15 | Megan Miller, Mackenzie Region Trade & Media Marketing Executive, Christchurch, NZ and Jason Menard, Mackenzie Region Digital Marketing Executive, Christchurch, NZ Experiencing the Night Sky: Astro-Tourism, Travel Trends and the Visitor Economy (11:24) |
| 4:20 | Al and Patricia (Annie) Grauer, Cosmic Campground, New Mexico, USA (with Nalayini and Gareth Davies, Auckland NZ) Space Weather Animates the Natural Night Sky (24:53) |
| 4:50 | Junichi Watanabe, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan Star Watching Campaign: Outreach Effort for Light Pollution by the Japanese Government (14:05) |
| 5:05 | Phil Langill, Rothney Astrophysical Observatory, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada (with Suzanne Oel (Foothills County), Greg Shyba (ASCCA) & Roland Dechesne (RASC)) Keeping it Dark in the Country, a Success Story of Astronomical Proportions (17:12) |
| 7:30 | Victoria Campbell, University of Otago, Ngai Tahu Kotai Mano Kaika Tātai whetū ki te raki – The myriad of stars, our constant connection (1:01:09) |
Tuesday, October 22
| 9:00 | Fabio Falchi, Istituto di Scienza e Tecnologia dell’Inquinamento Luminoso (Light Pollution Science and Technology Institute), 36016 Thiene, Italy Light pollution: the good, the bad and the ugly (28:47) |
| 9:30 | Chris Kyba, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany The importance of visual observations of skyglow by amateurs (13:20) |
| 9:45 | Ramotholo Sefako, South African Astronomical Observatory, Cape Town, South Africa Sutherland Central Astronomy Advantage Area (SCAAA) Protection Regulations: Preserving Dark Skies at SAAO (16:42) |
| 10:00 | Mike Chapman, Sydney Outdoor Lighting Improvement Society (SOLIS) (Australia) Mitigating Obtrusive Light on the Night Sky in Regional Areas (12:01) |
| 10:15 | Duncan Steel, Xerra Earth Observation Institute, Alexandra, Central Otago, NZ Earth’s artificial rings (14:02) |
| 12:00 | Kyra Xavia, Dunedin The importance of access to the night sky and the value of darkness and sleep (25:11) |
| 12:15 | Alicia Dimovski, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. Co-author: Kylie Robert, La Trobe University, Melbourne The dark side of energy-efficient lighting: LED lights are giving wildlife the blues (15:50) |
Astronomy at Mt John Observatory and Canterbury University / Dark sky protection in China
| 2:30 | Alan Gilmore and Pam Kilmartin, Mt John Observatory, University of Canterbury Astrometric observations of Near-Earth Objects from Mt John Observatory (12:46) |
Session 8: No Permissions
| 7:30 | Starlight Conference Dinner speaker: Graeme Murray, co-founder of Earth & Sky - the forerunner of the Dark Sky Project A Chapter of Miracles (34:52) |
Wednesday October 23
| 7:30 | Paul Bogard, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA Is it the End of Night? (31:51) |
| 9:40 | Premana Premadi, Bosscha Observatory, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Bandung, Indonesia (co-authors: R. Breton, D.Y. Yuna and O. Katz) Developing Dark Sky Protection Strategy in Indonesia (13:49) |
| 10:00 | Dwi Yoshafetri Yuna, Bosscha Observatory, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Bandung, Indonesia (co-author: P.W. Premadi) Why East Nusa Tenggara Should be an Amazing Destination for Astro-tourism (11:22) |
| 10:15 | Hendra Agus Prastyo, Bosscha Observatory, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Bandung, Indonesia (co-authors: D. Herdiwijaya and P.W. Premadi) Spatiotemporal Analysis of Light Pollution Distribution Patterns around observatories in Indonesia (12:11) |
| 11:00 | Kyra Xavia, Dunedin Protecting Ecology and Saving Our Stars via a Constellation of Small Amber-lit Coastal Communities (09:26) |
| 11:10 | Damien McNamara, North Otago Astronomical Society, Oamaru, NZ Using darkness to enlighten (12:19) |
| 11:20 | Ralph Bradley, Wai-iti Nelson In the dark at the top - Happening in the top of the South (09:40) |
| 11:30 | Jill Wolff, Naseby Vision, Naseby, Central Otago, NZ The long and winding trail (07:42) |
| 11:40 | Alistair Brickell, Stargazers B&B and Astronomy Tours, Whitianga, Coromandel, NZ Stargazing on the Coromandel Peninsula (10:19) |
| 11:50 | Ken Ross, Far North District Council, Kaikohe, NZ He kanohi ki te kanohi/ Face to face (11:04) |
| 12:00 | Kim Wesney, Waiheke Island Good Night Waiheke or Good Bye to the Night Waiheke (13:29) |
| 12:20 | Ricky Clarkson, Greater Wellington Regional Council, Wainuiomata-Orongorongo Dark-sky Project The Wainuiomata-Orongorongo Dark-sky Project (11:35) |
| 2:00 | Steve Butler, RASNZ Dark Skies Group, Invercargill Nalayini Davies, ASTRONZ and Auckland Astronomical Society Towards a dark sky nation – the vision, the challenges and opportunities (21:01) |
| 2:20 | Panel: Ruskin Hartley, Nalayini Davies, Andy Roberts (DOC), Clive Ruggles Facilitator: Margaret Austin Panel discussion: Towards a Dark Sky Nation (1:08:51) |
| 3:20 | Closing remarks for the Starlight Conference |
Post date:
Monday, January 11, 2021 - 3:46pm
Last modified:
Friday, May 21, 2021 - 7:51pm