The Kawarau Gibbston Dark Sky Park is located in a valley and shielded from light pollution by high mountains, leading to a particularly dark night sky. Central regions of the Magellanic Clouds and the Milky Way galaxy can be readily viewed and photographed, as well as the Aurora Australis.[4]
The application for the dark sky park accreditation was prepared by a volunteer group, the Gibbston Community Association. The lead author for the application was Brian Boyle, an astrophysicist who moved to the Queenstown-Lakes District at the end of 2019.[5][6] The application reports that night sky luminance in the park is 21.75 mag/arcsec2 (corresponding to Bortle scale 2 and on the threshold of Bortle scale 1).[6]
The Gibbston Community Association is a registered charity in New Zealand.[7][8] The association advocates for the protection of the dark sky, promotes good lighting practices and is introducing a voluntary certification code for lighting of homes and businesses.[9] The association hopes to work with nearby communities at Lowburn, Bannockburn and Cardrona to expand the dark sky preserve to include the Remarkables and Pisa conservation areas.[1][10]
