The little town of Tekapo, New Zealand (pop. 830) is fighting to preserve the night sky.

In 1965, officials of this pristine lakeside town recognized the importance of protecting the skies around the nearby Mount John Observatory and began putting controls on outdoor illumination.  According to an AP report, the ordinances require that, “low-energy sodium lamps are shielded from above, and household lights must face down, not up.”

Their goal? To obtain designation from UNESCO designation as the world’s first starlight reserve. Currently, none of UNESCO’s world heritage sites include the sky.

Tekapo’s efforts to preserve dark skies has begun to generate “astro tourists,” people in search of the experience of seeing stars under genuinely dark skies. Current estimates suggest that more than 2/3 of Americans are unable to see the Milky Way from their homes as a result of careless outdoor lighting and over-illumination - itself responsible for approximately two million barrels of oil per day in energy wasted. In Europe, there are almost no places left where the sky reaches its natural darkness.

A full wolf moon rose over Park City the other day. Known as the Full Wolf Moon by native Americans (likely) because of the sound of hungry wolves howling in the distance, this full moon was a bit extra special. This was also a perigee moon. Perigee is the point in the Moon’s eliptical orbit around Earth where it is at its closest. This, combined with the fact that Earth is at Perihelion (closest point in the Earth’s orbit around the Sun), made for a much bigger and brighter full moon than normal. Those of you out walking after dark might have noticed that much more light was available? If not, that’s ok. Hopefully, you at least enjoyed a nice view of Earth’s nearest celestial neighbor.

Spectacular indeed! This stunning image of Saturn was captured by the incredible Cassini spacecraft in 2006 as it passed behind the ringed gas giant in the 9th year of its mission. Color-contrast exaggerated, this image displays the uniqueness of the rings, allowing scientists to discern the different sizes of particles based on the color of light they scatter. Even more incredible it that the pale-blue dot of the Earth can be seen in this image just above and to the left of the bright, main rings. What would the brilliant Italian astronomer Giovanni Cassini - the spacecraft’s namesake - have thought of such a view? Should you wish to take a peek at the solar system’s 6th planet from the sun, look east around 11pm MST to see Saturn rising with the constellation Leo.

Research presented recently at the American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting in Long Beach, California suggests that our Milky Way Galaxy is considerably larger than originally believed. Astronomers used the VLBA (Very Long Baseline Array) to map our home galaxy in high detail. The results suggest that the Milky Way is comparable in size to the neighboring  Andromeda Galaxy (M31), previously the largest in our local group of galaxies. More details on the announcement are available from the BBC.

Our Milky Way Galaxy can be seen as a ghostly glow across the sky when viewed from dark locations. It represents the collective light of billions of distant stars. It is (unfortunately), not visible from many locations due to the presence of light pollution,  a growing worldwide problem created by improperly implemented outdoor lighting. M31, The Andromeda Galaxy is a huge spiral galaxy located in the fall constellation Andromeda. M31 is the most distant object that can be seen with the naked eye, located just over 2 million light years away.

The accompanying image was taken by Robert Gendler.

The first of NASA’s twin Mars Rovers, Spirit turned 5 the other day (Jan 3). It’s twin, Opportunity arrived about 3 weeks later, and so will celebrate its incredible 5th year of exploration on Jan 21st. Considering that NASA was hoping to get 3 months worth of performance out of these guys, I’d say it seems they got their money’s worth this time. The rovers have done much to advance our knowledge of Mar’s watery past.

The Hubble Space Telescope snapped this exquisite shot of the planet Jupiter. Note the incredible details visisble in the giant planet’s surface, including the Great Red Spot. Also note, one of Jupiter’s moon’s peaking out from behind the planet. Impressive views of Jupiter are done for the season. The planet is now sitting low in the western sky shortly after sunset.

Thanks to the slowing spin of the Earth on its axis (don’t worry, there is no immediate peril associated with the fact), the official timekeepers of the world must adjust their atomic clocks by adding a second to them tonight - 11:59:59 will happen twice! Enjoy your celebrations of 2008, your anticipations for 2009, and revel in the fact that you get a little more time this year to raise a toast, find a moment, or linger in a kiss. Happy New Year with wishes of peace and clear skies from all at Utah Skies.

Skywatchers are encouraged to head out after dark this weekend for a special gathering of our nearest celestial neighbors. Starting on Saturday night (12/28/08), a tiny waxing crescent moon will be found low above the western horizon shortly after sunset.  Use the bright planet Jupiter as your guide. The moon will sit just a few degrees below Jupiter. Once you’ve found these, look for tiny planet Mercury sitting between the two. I should mention, that you’ll need a nice, low western horizon to see this, as Mercury is never very far from the Sun. Over the next several nights, the moon will grow in phase as it climbs higher in the sky, working its way towards bright Venus on Tuesday night (12/30). Events like this are known as conjunctions. These can be quite beautiful and have  been viewed as highly significant events by people throughout history.  Checkout Sky & Telescope for more information.

Whether by divine yuletide direction or curious chaotic convergence, the Christmas Tree Cluster offers a symbol of the day with a familiar arbor likeness. A collection of stars in the constellation Monoceros (the Unicorn), this object was discovered by William Herschel in the late 18th century. In this picture from the Wide Field Imager (WFI) attached to the 2.2-meter Max-Planck Society/ESO telescope at the La Silla observatory in Chile, nebulae containing gas and dust are visible that serve as the birthplace of stars, a fitting analog to the celebrated birth of the Christan Savior on this day. Merry Christmas to all from Utah Skies.

Once again as Santa brings gifts to all the good girls and boys, North American Aerospace Defense Command - NORAD - is tracking his progress east to west. “NORAD manages to keep track of him with satellites, radar, and strategically placed ‘SantaCams’,” says Navy Petty Officer Shane Wolenda. For more than 50 years, NORAD has tracked Santa’s frenzied journey around the globe; thank you, NORAD!

Here at Utah Skies, we wish a Merry Christmas to all!