Astronomy at Mount John Observatory

The Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve is the largest reserve (4,367㎢) in the Southern Hemisphere. This area is mostly free of light pollution. We did a tour (at 1am!!) to the summit of Mount John where they have a large research observatory (part of University of Canterbury). We had amazing views of the night sky and the milky way. It was fun to learn more about the southern night sky and how wayfinders use the southern cross. We had a small glimpse of an Aurora (Southern lights). With the telescopes we viewed the Tarantula Nebula, the Butterfly Cluster, Alpha Centauri (AB twin star), and