Benmore Peak Observatory Welcome to the website of Benmore Peak astronomical observatory. We are a non-commercial, Community-oriented facility, situated at 1,932 meters (6,338') elevation, atop the Benmore Range in New Zealand's South Island. The site is rated as Class 1 on the Bortle Dark-Sky Scale and is above the two common local atmospheric inversion layers of 1000 meters and 1600 meters. Relative Humidity is usually below 20% and annual precipitation less than 300mm. A link to the webpage for BPO's new Observatory for Schools can be found below. Like the observatory itself, the webpage is far from complete. Please check it periodically for updates. Staff Login News and Updates Observatory for Schools Contributors Links Science and faith are mutually exclusive. In the face of contravening evidence, science will revise its hypotheses. Religion however revises the evidence.