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!
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