This weekend’s night sky (28 – 29 June 2014) Saturn and Mars shine brightly in the evening sky this weekend with the bright stars Arcturus and Spica nearby, forming a large triangle in the northern sky. Arcturus is a red giant star; its red colour appearing similar to Mars in the sky. This colour tells us that it is cooler than our own Sun. The fourth brightest star in the night sky, it often appears to twinkle red and green as its light passes through our atmosphere. To the east of Saturn is the constellation of Scorpius, which will dominate our skies over the winter months. Its Māori name is te Matau a Māui, the hook of Māui, which he used to pull up the great fish that became the north island of New Zealand, te Ika a Māui. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, runs through te Matau a Māui. We are lucky in the southern hemisphere to look towards the centre of our galaxy. It is a spectacular sight at this time of year running high above our heads in our evening sky. Venus is in the morning sky, rising around 5 am. Slightly to the north is Matariki/ the Pleiades, its appearance before the Sun marking the coming of the Māori New Year.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 04:03:30 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015