Mackenzie's dark sky reserve a 'treasure', influential NASA scientist says

Thursday, 28 September 2017

A scientist considered one of the world's most influential people says the dark sky reserve in the Mackenzie Basin is an 'ecological treasure'.

NASA scientist Dr Natalie Batalha was this year named is among Time magazine's 100 most influential people for her contribution to the discovery of habitable exoplanets that could sustain life.

The scientist attached to NASA's Kepler Mission to detect Earth-like exoplanets will be the keynote speaker at the the Aoraki Mackenzie Starlight Festival in Mt Cook in October.

NASA scientist Dr Natalie Batalha, one of Time Magazines 100 most influential people for 2017 is a keynote speaker the Aoraki Mackenzie Starlight Festival, in Mt Cook in October.

Ahead of her visit, on Thursday she called dark sky reserves personally significant and inspirational.

The Mackenzie Basin was declared the Southern Hemisphere's only International Dark Sky Reserve in 2012. It is one of 11 worldwide and it provides a tourism drawcard.

The Church of the Good Shepherd at Tekapo is seen with the Milky Way as a backdrop.

'It is so special that there are reserves in place with formal agreements with a number of bodies to protect the ecological tressure… and how cool is it that you have a dark sky reserve as a tourism venture as opposed to a casino,' she said.

Her forthcoming visit would be her first to New Zealand - a prospect she was 'really excited about'.

A picture of the Aurora in the Mackenzie Basin in February.

'I'm so excited I finally get to come see the county that is famous for its natural beauty which fits with my personal interests.'

She was looking forward to spending time in Mt Cook, and was particularly enthused about sharing her experience with the Kepler search for life on other planets.

The scientist attached to NASA's Kepler Mission to detect Earth-like exoplanets will be the keynote speaker at the Aoraki Mackenzie Starlight Festival in Mt Cook in October.

Her talk, A Planet for Goldilocks, will focus on NASA's search for life in so-called Goldilocks zones.

Such zones are said to have planets that are not too hot and not too cold - but may have conditions that prove just right for life.

Irishman Creek in the Mackenzie Basin, beneath the famous dark sky.

She described astronomy as a 'profound experience were you can connect with the environment'.

The Southern Hemisphere was especially spectacular as there was no where else you could see the Milky Way or the Southern Cross, she said.

The Church of the Good Shepherd in Tekapo.

Astronomy had captured her imagination from the start of her career.

'I imagined men in white lab coats pouring chemicals into test tubes which some of it is but when you discover something no one else in the world has it's addictive it's really fantastic.'

Aoraki Mackenzie Dar Sky Reserve Board chairman John Hearnshaw said Batalha was ' extremely successful and very famous in the US and in the world really'.

He said she was 'heavy weight speaker' and having her as a keynote speaker was a massive pull for the region.

Batalha would also lecture elsewhere in New Zealand as part of the Beatrice Hill Tinsley 2017 Lecture Tour, run by the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand.

The Mackenzie festival is at Mt Cook from October 13 to 15.

The other keynote speakers are South African astronomer Kevin Govender and Japanese astronomer Sze-leung Cheung.