AstronomyNZ

Autumn Night Sky

The charts simulate the night sky seen from a dark sky site well away from city lights.

The Autumn Morning Night Sky
The seasonal stars important to Maori were usually those that rose just before dawn. The charts simulate the morning night sky seen from a dark sky site well away from city lights. The entire sky appears to slowly revolve in a clockwise direction around the south celestial pole (SCP) shown on the southern chart. The orientation of the stars is correct for the beginning of the months of April at 5:30am (the onset of dawn) and May 3:30am (2 hours before dawn). There are two views of the night sky: one looking due south and the other due north. The 'zenith' is the point directly overhead. Consequently, stars above this point are behind you when looking towards the horizon shown on the chart.