Wellington New Zealand NORTH Latitude: 41° 19’ South

Longitude 174 ° 46’ East in SOLAR SYSTEM DATALooking towards the southern horizon you should Sun: Libra, Scorpius and Ophiuchus, be able to see these asterisms on ☉ October 15 just before midnight NZDT Andromeda Galaxy November 1st at 10:30 PM NZDT 8 light minutes (lmin) November 15 at 9:30 PM NZDT away from Earth December 1st at 8:30 PM NZDT

☽ Moon: 1.33 light seconds (lsec) galaxy

star was guarding a district of the sky. sky. the of district a guarding was star

time of the Ancient Persians. Each Each Persians. Ancient the of time

Naked eye PEGASUS the during BCE 3000 approximately

sky the of guardians The Pleiades Stars Royal ☿ Mercury: Scorpius, 9.28 lmin Saturn: Sagittarius 88 lmin ♄ TAURUS ♂︎ Mars: Capricornus 6.57 lmin ARIES The Hyades PISCES you are here Aldebaran AQUILA Mira (Omicron Ceti) (Royal Star) variable star in Cetus, Altair AQUARIUS 299 light years ly CETUS Mars (15 Nov)♂

CAPRICORNUS Formalhaut EAST (Royal Star)

ORION (Te Taurapa o te Waka o Tamarereti) GRUS WEST SAGITTARIUS Achernar

Saturn (15 Nov)♄ SMC PAVO Sirius CANIS MAJOR Galaxy

M7 Ptolemy Cluster LMC Galaxy South SCORPIUS Celestial (Te Tauihu o te Waka o Tamarereti) Canopus/Atutahi Pole Mercury ☿ Binoculars deep sky objects (15 Nov) Antares M44 Pleiades, The Hyades; M 31 to south (Royal Star) M I L K Y W A Y Andromeda Galaxy; NGC 4755 Jewel Alpha the Pointers (Te Taura o te Waka o Tamarereti) Box Cluster; M 7 Ptolemy Cluster; Alpha VELA Centauri double star. Beta Jupiter Jewel Box Centauri (15 Nov)♃ Eta Carinae Nebula cluster CARINA CENTAURUS CRUX LIBRA Telescope (Te Punga o Te Waka O Tamarereti) Omega M31 Andromeda, M77 spiral galaxy Graphics and text by Haritina Mogoșanu @milkywaykiwi Centauri cluster (Cetus), Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), Senior Science Communicator Museums Wellington NGC 2070 Tarantula Nebula, Small SOUTH Magellanic Cloud (SMC), NGC 104 47 Tucanae Globular Cluster, 2018 M42 Orion Nebula. in November of X-rays and the most luminous close star at South Celestial Pole) and Casiopeea, which 310 light years from the Sun, Canopus is used is on the other side of the Milky Way, kind for navigation by all spacecraft that employ star of opposite the Southern Cross. NOVEMBER 2018 tracker devices, which determine the orientation Three Royal Stars are in the sky of November, and (or attitude) of the spacecraft with respect to On the Zodiacal band, the Sun is in Libra here in Wellington New Zealand we are looking at that star. Te Taurapa, or the stern of the waka is from October 30 to November 23 then in a Māori asterism called Te Waka O Tama Rereti (or in the Eastern Sky, formed by Orion. Scorpius from November 23 to November Tamarereti), which is the great canoe that placed 29 and finally in Ophiuchus from the stars in the sky. We are also talking about the Here in New Zealand we can see both Scorpius and circumpolar stars, the Magellanic Clouds and latest November 29 to December 17 (Ophiuchus Orion in the sky in the same time and this is the time of is not included in the Zodiac) so during research results revealing they collided in the the year to do it. not so distance past, which resulted in a MiniMe those dates we cannot see those respective Magellanic Cloud hurrying behind one of them. constellations either. Fomalhaut is my favourite star this month, the CIRCUMPOLAR OBJECTS – THE MAGELLANIC loneliest star in the sky as it’s called and the Pleiades CLOUDS The Solar System are back in the east just in time for Halloween. With the Milky Way laying across the horizon, At the beginning of the month Jupiter and there aren’t so many deep sky objects handy Mercury will be low in the west at dusk, setting TE WAKA O TAMA RERETI (OR TAMARERETI) to observe. However, we are in the Southern toward the southwest 1½ hours after the Sun. In the Eastern Sky, this time of the year, Hemisphere and the spectacular Magellanic Orange Mars is in Capricornus north of overhead the Pleiades are visible again on the horizon. Clouds (or Nubeculae Magellani) are high in the at dusk. Midway between Mars and Jupiter is Harbingers for Halloween in the northern sky at this time of the year. The large Magellanic Saturn in Sagittarius. Jupiter sets earlier each night hemisphere where now skies are grey and Cloud is about 160,000 light years from us and as we move to the far side of the sun from it. By ravens await for the first snows, for Māori, the Small Magellanic Cloud is about 200,000 mid-month it is lost in the twilight. Mercury holds the Pleiades are now harbingers of summer. light years away. To find them, draw a line from its position in the west before disappearing late Together with the Hyades they make the wake the southern cross to Achernar. Two thirds from in November when it passes between us and the and feathers from the Great Canoe (Waka) of the southern cross on each side of the line are Sun. A thin crescent Moon will be near Mercury Tama Rereti. November is the month when the two galaxies. Now far apart, it seems that and Jupiter on the 9th. At the end of the month Milky Way surrounds the horizon like an ocean the Magellanic Clouds collided in the past. Saturn and Mars are the only naked-eye planets and the Great Waka was used by Māori to in the evening sky. The Moon will be near Saturn mark the arrival of the warm season when Inside the Magellanic Clouds are amazing deep on the 11th and 12th and close to Mars on the it was safe to travel the ocean. Tama Rereti’s sky objects, including Tarantula Nebula and 47 16th. Venus rises a little south of east 50 minutes Waka placed the stars in the sky and now Tucanae Globular Cluster. before the sun at the beginning of the month; lies moored in the wake of the Milky Way. more than 1½ hours before sunrise at the end. Scorpius is Tauihu, the prow, floating low on THE VOID FROM THE NORTH It is a long thin crescent in a telescope and big the western horizon. Due south sits Te Punga, Really once I’ve seen the galactic centre at binoculars. the anchor (the Southern Cross), with its rope, zenith and the southern circumpolar objects, Te Taura, which is represented by the Pointers the northern sky seemed a bit devoid of stars. The month starts with the Moon at Last Quarter, then (Beta and Alpha Centauri). The latter is Still, having said that, to the North, the great New Moon is on the 8th, followed by First Quarter on actually a multiple star system that holds our horse of Pegasus is flying through the sky. And 16 November and full Moon on the 23rd. closest solar neighbour, the red dwarf Proxima Andromeda galaxy is in the sky too. Centauri, at 4.25 light years from Earth. Clear skies, The sails of Tama Rereti’s canoe are Achernar What’s NOT in the sky Haritina Mogoşanu, Senior Science and the beautiful southern dwarf galaxies First of all, from Wellington New Zealand we Communicator Museums Wellington. the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds (SMC cannot see the northern circumpolar stars. @milkywaykiwi and LMC). Canopus/Atutahi is the paramount These are the stars that make the Big and You can email me if you have any questions about the night sky at [email protected] chief of the skies at vigil in the waka. A source Small Dipper, Polaris (which is opposite to the