S2E12 - Maori stargazing in New Zealand

I travelled to New Zealand’s South Island at Maori New Year to witness a dark-sky spectacle in the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve. These reserves are being established across the globe, which is good for astronomers but – more importantly – for animals and birds, as more and more human-created light is disrupting and threatening their migrations and survival.

I learned about Maori astronomy and looked for star patterns the local Maori people know and love such as ‘wakas’ or star canoes ploughing across the celestial ocean, reminiscent of the crafts their forebears used to travers...