AstronomyNZ

Winter Morning Night Sky

By Richard Hall

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 10th of the months of June at 6:00am (the onset of dawn) and July 4:00am (2 hours before dawn). There are two views of the night sky: one looking east and the other is a panorama of the southern horizon. The "zenith" is the point directly overhead. Consequently, stars above this point are behind you when looking towards the horizon on the southern chart.

Matariki rises at the point on the horizon where Te Ra (the Sun) will rise at the winter solstice (June 21). It is in conjunction with the Te Ra (behind the Sun) on May 20. Its reappearance in the eastern dawn sky will occur on June 2nd. The thin crescent of the new moon following the heliacal rising of Matariki will be seen in the western evening sky on June 20. The full (tapu) moon occurs on July 2nd.

Great Waka of Tama-rereti There are many wakas in the sky but at the time of the Maori new year you can see the great waka of Tama-rereti in the south "at the eyebrow of the sky" (Southern Sky Charts). The waka is Te-Ika-roa (the southern Milky Way) and contains all of the important navigational stars.