James Verner - Exploring Stars, Protecting Night Skies

About Me

This photo was taken in Northern Minnesota. I used my Nikon D3300 with the stock lens. To ensure the best clarity I used a tripod and remote shutter release button.

Welcome to my corner of the cosmos, a place shaped by a lifelong fascination with the night sky. Most people know me as Jim Verner, others as James I. Verner, but in recent years I've become known as "the satellite guy."My journey began when my father pointed out the Pleiades and Orion's Belt to me as a child. That moment sparked a passion for astronomy that has stayed with me ever since.Today, that passion also comes with a mission. Across the world, our once pristine night sky is fading, washed out by ground-based light pollution and increasingly crowded by satellites in orbit.Astronomers at every level, from professional to amateur to those who simply look up in wonder at the night sky, are watching that once beautiful tapestry of light and dark, wonder and science, art and inspiration, gradually eroding.Slowly, almost inexorably, we are losing our view of the cosmos.Yet I still believe it is not too late to turn the tide. My passion for astronomy runs deep — but I believe something else matters just as much: a dark and radio-quiet sky is essential not only to advancing our understanding of the Universe of which we are a part, but to the cultural heritage of all humanity, for this generation and the ones to come.Here you'll find my passion for astronomy, my mission to preserve the dark and quiet sky, and my drive to inspire the next generation through STEM. Join me on this journey — and dip into the blog along the way.These days, when someone greets me as "the satellite guy," I'll admit I've made my peace with it — if the label helps the message travel a little further, I'm happy to wear it. What I hope for, simply, is that some other child, on some ordinary night, still gets the Pleiades or Orion pointed out to them, clear, undimmed, and theirs to wonder at.

Exploring the Universe, Protecting Dark and Quiet Skies & Inspiring The Next Generation

Gallery

SH2-119 Clamshell Nebula in Cygnus. A 2 panel mosaic image from 209 individual 3 minute exposures (11 hours).

M42 Orionnebel & Sh2-279 Running Man Nebel

Camping in the Sahara desert cannot be put into words.  
“What makes the desert beautiful,’ said the little prince, ‘is that somewhere it hides a well…” 
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

- that well is your soul - if you look deep enough, you’ll find things you didn’t know they are there. I loved every second of it. (except the camel ride, that brought pain to another level)

The moon in the middle of summer night in Melbourne

Early 2025 edition of the Orion and Running Man Nebulae

Explore the universe, preserve the night, inspire young minds.

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Jim Verner, brings a deep personal commitment to protecting the night sky and advocating more broadly for space environmentalism and sustainability, working across astronomy, public engagement and policy as satellite traffic in low Earth orbit continues to grow. Much of this work happens away from the podium, coalition-building and quiet diplomacy across the astronomy, policy and space sectors alongside his increasingly public role as a speaker and media voice.He is a Director of Dark Sky UK and Chairman of the British Astronomical Association's Commission for Dark Skies (BAA CfDS), where he advises on the impact of satellite constellations on the night sky. He is a member of the International Astronomical Union Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky, Community Engagement Hub, which exists to give stakeholders affected by satellite constellations a voice, and to connect professional astronomers with the wider communities working on dark and quiet skies. He is also a member of the Internation Astronomical Union Working Group for Professional-Amateur Relations in Astronomy.He took up the BAA CfDS chairmanship in 2026, continuing work founded in 1989 by the late Robert Mizon MBE.He spoke at the 2026 National Astronomy Meeting in Birmingham, in the "Protecting Dark &amp; Quiet Skies" session, and was recently quoted in Engadget, and PCMag.com credited there as Dark Sky UK's James Verner, following the FCC's approval of Reflect Orbital's Earendil-1 mirror satellite.He spent thirty years in broadcast and audio-visual production before moving into dark and quiet skies advocacy full-time — a background that now shapes how he communicates with media, policymakers and the public alike, His favourite pastime of all is still looking at the stars.