New Zealanders' connection with the night sky

This manuscript has been accepted for publication in Kōtuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Science. It will be available early in 2026 under DOI: 10.1002/kot2.70013. 

Keywords: Artificial light at night; ALAN; dark sky; night sky connection; light pollution; natural darkness

Abstract 

Artificial light at night (ALAN) provides many benefits to people, but the resulting erosion of natural darkness is increasingly recognised as negatively affecting human and environmental health, scientific endeavours and cultural connection to the night sky. This first nationally representative survey assessed New Zealanders’ connection with the night sky and their attitudes towards ALAN across five domains: astronomy, environment, energy consumption, public health, and culture. We found New Zealanders strongly appreciate the night sky: 50% of respondents strongly/totally agreed and another 27% moderately agreed that preserving dark night skies is important to them. Our analyses revealed that this sentiment (and wider night sky connectedness) was most consistently predicted by positive attitudes towards darkness (particularly beliefs linking night-time darkness to human wellbeing) and frequency of gazing upwards. Contrary to previous assumptions, demographic factors (including sex, age, ethnicity) and urban–rural location were not significant predictors of either night sky connectedness or support for preservation. While ALAN was regarded as an important issue across domains, concern was greatest for astronomy and environmental impacts, and lowest in the cultural domain. The strong public support identified here reinforces the social license of initiatives establishing Dark Sky locations and strengthening national lighting guidelines and regulations.