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
Saturday, September 22, 2012
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 :)
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.
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.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
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.
Friday, July 20, 2012
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!
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!
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