First up is the southern hemisphere winter solstice. This year it takes place on Tuesday, June 21 at 9.13pm. The solstice marks the time that the sun reaches the northernmost point in its annual journey round the sky. In Dunedin the sun sets at 4.59pm and doesn’t rise until 8.19am the next day which means, weather permitting, stargazers get to enjoy more than 15 hours of prime-time stargazing. Those who aren’t keen on astronomy can use the occasion to cheer the fact that summer is now only six months away.
This week the whole country gets to celebrate Matariki, with a new national holiday on Friday, June 24. Matariki is the Maori name for a star cluster located in the constellation Taurus the Bull. It is known as the Pleiades by western astronomers. In this part of the world, Matariki rises just before the sun in midwinter. For many Maori, the sighting of this really distinctive cluster of stars heralds the start of the new year.
The Otago Museum is hosting a pre-dawn ceremony to mark this important occasion. As I head into work from my home in Portobello on June 24, I will be hoping the sky is clear. That’s because I will be keen to stop en route for a few moments. I want to observe Matariki rising over Otago harbour; the cluster clears the horizon just after 6am and should easily be visible by 6.30am
In the spirit of the new holiday, once I find Matariki, I plan to spend a few moments remembering friends and loved ones who have passed away in the past year.
Once my reflections are complete, I will also be hoping to spot what should be a splendid celestial spectacle involving Matariki and the moon together with all of the naked-eye planets. The best time will be between 6.30am and 6.45am when the sky will still be reasonably dark. As this week’s chart shows, on June 24 Matariki can be found below and to the left of Venus.
Ian Griffin
