Tekapo, New Zealand, December 17, 2008--A starry blanket seems to hang over the small town of Tekapo, which glows in warm yellows at night due to sodium lamps used to cut light pollution.

The picture, released on February 9, 2009, illustrates the rich cosmic details visible from Tekapo that residents hope will earn the town the first-ever designation as a starlight reserve under the UNESCO World Heritage program. Increases in bright night-time lighting mean that about a fifth of the world's population and more than two-thirds in the U.S. can't see the Milky Way in their home skies, the Associated Press reported.

Initially started to keep the heavens clear for the nearby Mount John Observatory, so-called "dark sky" efforts in Tekapo are attracting astro-tourists and are bolstering the town's bid to create "a heritage park in the sky."

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