Te Mangoroa - The Milky Way

The Milky Way stretches out across the southern part of the New Zealand night sky. Crux, or the more poetic name of the Southern Cross, sits embedded in the Milky Way, a strong focal point, rather like an Olympic medal on an athlete.

I have long been interested in learning the Maori view of the night sky. The Maori people were the first people in New Zealand and they have their own constellations, star names and stories. As there are many different Maori tribes, there are many Maori names for the stars, constellations and heavenly bodies. The Milky Way is no exception. Stories often accompany these names and tell the origin of the stars and how the Milky Way got there.

Some names for the Milky Way include:
Te Tuahiwi-nui-o-rangi
Te Ika a Maui (The fish of Maui)
Te Ika-matua a Tangaroa (The important/parent fish of Tangaroa)
Te Ika-o-te-rangi (The fish of the sky)
Te Ikaroa (The long fish)
Te ika-whenua-o-te-rangi (The land fish of the sky)
Te Mangoroa
Te Mangoroiata
Mokoroa-i-ata
Te Paeroa o Whanui
Tuahiwi o Rangi-nui (the ridge of a hill of Ranginui the Sky Father)
Whiti-Kaupeka (South Island name. It's also the name of 'Spica', the brightest star in the constellation, Virgo)
Te Kupenga a Taramainuku (Tuhoe Tribe's name for the Milky Way)

Te Mangoroa

This is the most common name for the 'Milky Way'. The name Mangoroa can be translated as long shark (Mango = shark; roa = long) There is an old Maori myth about Maui, a great Maori demigod, who fought a monster, whom he put up in the sky. This monster was known as Mangoroiata. From the list of names above you can see that Mangoroiata is another name for the Milky Way.

Another story about Mangoroa is told by Hamiora Pio, from the Ngati Awa tribe. "The most numerous tribe in the heavens is the Mangoroa, the most numerous folk in the sky. Their duty is to move together - elder and younger, father and mother, grandchildren, husband, wife, child, old man, cousin, all move together. Their chief task is to foretell the coming of day. That people of the heavens represents our principal token of daylight. When one end of the Mangoroa swings eastward, the other westward, then day is at hand." Here, stars are personified as people in the heavens, te Whanau Marama - the family of light. In some tribes they are known as children of the Sky Father, Ranginui and the Earth Mother, Papatuanuku.

Te Kupenga a Taramainuku

Another interesting name for the Milky Way is 'Te Kupenga o Taramainuku' or the net of Taramainuku. Here the Milky Way is likened to a fishing net in the sky. I know of Taramainuku as a taniwha (dragon like, water spirit, monster, spiritual guardian), who used to meet with other taniwha at Whatipu, a bay in Auckland. Whatipu became known as Whatipua, "bay of the spiritual guardians". The rocks around the bay are named after the taniwha, Taramainuku, and are called "Te Kupenga o Taramainuku", meaning the net of Taramainuku. It wouldn't surprise me if this were the same Taramainuku the Maori are talking about when they refer to "Te Kupenga a Taramainuku" as a name for the Milky Way.

Te Ika a Maui

Another name for the Milky Way is 'Te Ika a Maui' meaning, 'the fish of Maui'. This phrase is well known in New Zealand as a name for New Zealand's North Island. This name came from the tale about Maui, a demigod, who pulled up the North Island with a magic fishhook, the jawbone of his grandmother. Once he had pulled up the North Island, his brothers jumped out of the waka (canoe) and chopped it up. This made hills and valleys. One name for the South Island is "Te Waka a Maui" or the canoe of Maui. The North Island looks a little like a fish, with its head down the bottom and tail up the top. The South Island looks a bit like a canoe. Stewart Island is sometimes known as "Te Punga o te Waka a Maui" - the anchor of the canoe of Maui, or anchor stone of Maui, and sits down below the South Island. Check a map, you'll see.

Bibliography:
Auckland Regional Council, Whatipu: Our History
Best, E. (1922). The Astronomical Knowledge of the Maori, Genuine and Empirical. Dominion Museum, Wellington.
http://www.stewartisland.co.nz/pages/history-and-naming-of-stewart-island/
http://www.newzealand.com/int/feature/the-legend-of-new-zealand/

My telescope is fixed!

The good news is I've managed to fix my telescope. Some of the screws fell out but I won a trade me auction of a broken old Meade telescope and borrowed the screws off that. Now mine should work fine. I've only to try it out on the beautifully clear night skies of Maraetai, Auckland. I've previously tried it out before it was fixed and was still able to locate Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Due to low light pollution, the Milky Way is clearly visible. Currently, Aquila the Eagle is beginning its flight, with Altair or Poutu-Te-Rangi, as it is known in Maori, prominently leading the take off.

My Top 5 Astronomy Books

These are my top 5 favourite astronomy books. Not in any particular order, although I find number 1 and 2 really useful when I'm observing outside. I use number 3 when I come inside to research and number 4 is really useful when I'm researching New Zealand astronomy. Number 5 is generally useful on many different astronomy topics. Wouldn't give them away and it's a shame I can't take all of them to England.

1. Stars and Planets by Ian Ridpath
2. Night Sky Atlas by Robin Scagell
3. The Constellations: Stars and Stories by Chris Sasaki
4. Naked Eye Wonders: A Short Guide to the Stars as seen from Aotearoa New Zealand by Paul Taylor
5. Astronomica (c) 2007 Millennium House Pty Ltd, Australia

Venturing North

Look out Perseus, Ursa Major and Minor, I'm coming your way!

In the lovely month of October, I will be taking a trip to England. While I am there I want to do some observing of the Northern Hemisphere constellations, take a trip to an observatory and hopefully see Stonehenge. Get ready for more updates :)

Friday 20 September 2012

Time: 2200
Weather: Clear
Sky: Faint
Moon: Quarter moon


Constellations and Key Stars (S):
Aquarius
Capricornus
Pisces
Pisces Austrinus - Fomalhaut (S)
Pegasus
Aquila - Altair (S)
Sagitta
Equuleus - Possibly Kitalpha (S)

Notes:
Equuleus: The Little Horse - This is the second smallest constellation in the sky. The smallest is the Crux or Southern Cross as it is known down here. Equuleus is the head of a horse and doesn't have any stories associated with it. I could only find one of its stars, possibly Kitalpha. You can find Equuleus by first finding the great square of Pegasus, currently north/north-eastish at this time of the night. Go to the top left hand star of the great square then, using a map of Pegasus follow the "leg" of stars that go from this top left hand star all the way to Equuleus. The last star in the "leg" is close to Equuleus. Pegasus is the bigger horse in the sky so we have two horses, a big horse, and a foal, if you like.

Sagitta: The Arrow - Funnily enough, this is the third smallest constellation in the sky. So currently in the South Auckland sky near my house we have the 1st, 2nd and 3rd smallest constellations all in the sky together! Sagitta looks like a little triangle with a line in front. It is very faint. I could barely spot it. It makes me glad I have good eyesight. You can find Sagitta by first finding Altair in Aquila the Eagle. Then find Delphinus. Make a line between the two. Then in the middle of that line, go down and Sagitta is below this. It looks like a little triangle with a line going to the right, much like an arrow. From legends, Sagitta could be the arrow of Cupid. It could also be Hercules' arrow, one he used in his 12 labours or Apollo's arrow, which Apollo shot at Cyclops.

Curiosity

Yay! Curiosity has landed! Monday 6th August - New Zealand time. Curiosity, the rover has landed on Mars at Gale Crater!

It was quite the occasion. I was watching the live feed from the NASA website. Well, I was trying to watch the live feed. As NASA were eagerly anticipating the landing of Curiosity, and waiting with baited breath for Curiosity to go through the seven minutes of terror, I was also dealing with my own seven minutes of terror, or rather, seven minutes of vomit, as one of my relatives (not to be named) picked those precious moments before Curiosity landed to begin chucking their guts into an empty ice cream container. Here I was running up and down the stairs, cleaning up vomit, caring for my relative, while at the same time, trying to hear what was going on at NASA. Fortunately, Curiosity landed, the vomit got cleaned up and my relative is now feeling fine.

Matariki - 21 Pipiri - 21 Hongongoi 2012 (21 June to 21 July 2012)

Wow, what a busy month! Matariki is a special time in New Zealand. It is the month of the Maori New Year. The year begins in either May or June and starts with the appearance of Matariki, or the Pleaides in the dawn sky. The first new moon after Matariki appears is the beginning of the Maori new year.

However, some tribes use the appearance of the star Rigel (or Puanga in Maori) to mark the beginning of the Maori new year instead. Rigel is the foot of Orion the Hunter but in New Zealand, Orion is upside down so Rigel is near the top and Beetleguese, the shoulder of Orion, is at the bottom. In Maori Astronomy, Orion can be seen as a bird trap, with the three stars of Orion's belt (tautoru) as the bird perch. Rigel (Puanga) is the berry bait.

There are many different stories about Matariki. One story is that the seven stars are Matariki and her six daughters. The daughters' names are Waiti, Waita, Waipuna-a-rangi, Ururangi, Tupuanuku and Tupuarangi.

This year I saw Matariki in the early morning on the 19th of July. I got up around 6:10am and looked out the window. The sky was stunning. It was so dark and the stars and planets shone so brightly. I had to double check they weren't UFOs - they were so bright. Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, shone very brightly and when I went to look for Matariki I noticed - well, I couldn't help but notice, they were so bright - two planets, Jupiter and Venus, underneath the Hyades (the V shape in Taurus the Bull). So if you want to find Matariki this year, first find the two planets, Jupiter and Venus and look to the left a bit and around there is the small, but very beautiful star cluster, Matariki, or the Pleaides.

Some other constellations up in the evening at the moment include Scorpius: The Scorpion, Sagittarius: The Archer, The Crux: The Southern Cross, The False Cross, the Diamond Cross and Libra: The Scales. Later you can see Aquila: The Eagle. In the evening you can also see Saturn. Through my Meade telescope it looks like a flea with little blips out the side but it is very cool. Some people get very excited when they realize that what they're seeing are actually the rings around Saturn.

This month I gave a talk at Mangere East Library about Matariki and Greek and Maori constellations. The evening went well. People were able to view Saturn through the telescope and after the talk the children went through the Star Tent, where they could learn how to find Matariki in the dawn sky.

Busy month!

Nga mihi mo te tau hou!
Happy New Year!