Stargazing in New Zealand
New Zealand is also known as Aotearoa The Land of the Long White Cloud. But when the cloud clears at night the sky offers some of the best stargazing opportunities in the world. The southern night sky contains a greater range of interesting features than does the northern. This is true for both naked eye and telescope observing. The southern sky claims the three brightest stars (Sirius, Canopus, and Alpha Centauri) and the best examples of almost every type of astronomical object. New Zealand also has a superb view of the Large & Small Magellanic Clouds - two extraordinary galaxies visible to the naked eye that are too far south for northern hemisphere viewers. Visitors to New Zealand can see the centre of the Milky Way directly overhead during winter.
Maori Astronomy
It is difficult to know the full extent of astronomical understanding the Polynesians and Maori had of the stars. The early anthropologist Elsdon Best said in 1922: "Few endeavours have ever been made to collect Maori star lore, and now it is too late to rescue it. The men who knew have passed away." It is certain that the stars were used to navigate across the vast expanse of the Pacific along with expert knowledge of winds, waves, and currents. Maori know the stars as Te Whanau o Marama - the family of light. Meteors are te mata kokiri - the darting ones. Traditional stories show that the Maori watched the dawn sky more than the evening sky. The arrival of Matariki (Pleiades) in the early June sky is celebrated as being a sign from those who had passed away. Antares in Scorpius is known as Rehua and "ko Rehua whakaruhi tangata' translates as "Rehua gives energy to man" as it is seen in the early morning sky in spring.
Naked Eye Observing
The northern constellations and the moon appear upside down to northern hemisphere visitors, and the Sun, Moon and planets travel through the sky in the north.
The Southern Cross
The five main stars of the Southern Cross belong to a larger group officially known as the constellation Crux. Crux is the smallest constellation in the sky and yet is the most famous group of southern stars. It is a kite-shaped cluster of four bright stars (and one not so bright) all within 16 degrees of each other in the sky. The Cross appears in various forms on the national flags of four countries: New Zealand, Western Samoa, Papua New Guinea, and Australia. Confirmation that the Cross has been found is the presence of two bright stars called the Pointers: Alpha Centauri and Beta Centauri. Alpha Centauri is the closest star outside the solar system, being about 4.3 light years away.
Magellanic Clouds
Two cloud-like patches of light are the neighbouring galaxies known as the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Small Magellanic Cloud. They are about 170,000 light years away and the Large Magellanic Cloud contains about 10,000 million stars. These are the closest galaxies to our own and are a stunning sight whether viewed with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope. They are considered to be satellite galaxies linked by gravity to the Milky Way. The next closest galaxy is Andromeda 2.2 million light years away.
Milky Way
Stretching across the southern sky is the Milky Way. This is our own disc-shaped galaxy and when we look at the band of light we are looking 'edge on' toward the centre of the galaxy. Apart from the Large Magellanic Cloud, the Small Magellanic Cloud, and the Andromeda Galaxy, all the stars we see in the sky with our eyes are within the Milky Way Galaxy. The borders of the Milky Way Galaxy as we see it are irregular and the Milky Way itself is patchy in parts. One object, which has the appearance of a dark 'hole' in the sky, is a cloud of cosmic dust about 600 light years away - it is known as the Coal Sack. This opaque cloud is next to and nearly as large as the Southern Cross and hides the stars lying behind it.
Telescope Viewing
One of the favourite telescope views near the Southern Cross is the Jewel Box: a compact collection of different coloured stars once described as "a clutch of diamonds with a single ruby."
The Eta Carinae Nebula is one of the truly great sights in the southern skies. It is a vast region containing the remnants of a mighty explosion in the star Eta Carinae. Some 9,000 light years away, it shines with the luminosity of 4 million Suns.
To the naked eye, Omega Centauri looks like a small, hazy circular patch. A good telescope will show its amazing structure, with a grainy appearance like glowing sand. It is the most striking globular cluster in the entire sky as about 100,000 stars occupy a spherical section of space.
Another gem is the 47 Tucanae Cluster - a crowded mass of thousands of stars, easy to see in the summer night sky.
The Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud is one of the most detailed nebulae in the sky. As its name suggests, it has a spidery appearance with a spectacular array of loops and filaments. If it were as close as the Orion nebula it would appear as large as an outstretched hand at arm's length.
Auckland's Stardome Observatory and Wellington's Carter Observatory are both open to the public for telescope viewing and planetarium shows. When visiting other parts of New Zealand, enquire at a visitor information centre for the nearest astronomical society. Many operate observatories on a few nights each month and are very happy to share their knowledge of New Zealand's night skies with visitors.
By Warren Hurley
Stardome Observatory
www.stardome.org.nz