Summer Stargazing
Regardless of what you might read on the Internet, you can see Kā Kurakura o Hinenuitepō (Aurora Australis) during the summer here in Wai Tahuna, Aotearoa (Queenstown NZ)
A question we hear a lot is ‘When is the best time to go stargazing?’, and I must confess my instinctive answer is always ‘at night’. After eyes have rolled and my sense of humor has once again drifted towards ‘full Dad joke’ territory, an interesting conversation usually follows.
What we’re talking about here is actually really important, in terms of if we slow down and think of our environment, we can work out fairly quickly that there is no best time, other than at night, to go stargazing. Stargazing is simply a different experience during different times of year. Very much like how it’s a different experience during the various moon phases.
The main thing that you’ll notice is that the Galactic Core (the very bright part of the Milky Way you see in photographs), it’s not in the sky at night during summer. For objects outside of Whānau a Tamanuiterā (Our Solar System), when viewed from the same place, they always rise and set in exactly the same position on the horizon every day. They just do this 4 minutes earlier each consecutive day. This is why during the night, throughout the year, we see different stars & constellations.
Whilst we might not have the Milky Way Core, we do have the most beautiful Milky Way summer arch making an appearance in the sky. Rising from the South East ish, and setting just past North East ish, it looks amazing in your panorama photograph.
The Summer Southern Night Sky - Wai Tāhuna, Aotearoa (Queenstown, NZ))
Looking towards the North East, we see Te Waka õ Raki / He Waka Nui. This asterism forms the shape of a traditional Māori waka (canoe) and is considered to be one of the most important asterisms within Te Ao Māori and is such a beautiful sight to see. Matariki (Pleiades) at the helm, Te Kokotā (The head of Taurus the Bull) is the sail in the middle, Tau Toru (Orions Belt) at the stern, navigated by Taramainuku.
It is the heliacal rising (the term used to describe when stars are seen rising in the Eastern sky just before dawn), of Matariki and the rest of He Waka Nui that signals the start of the Māori New Year. This occurs during our Southern Hemisphere winter, which means you have to get up very early to see it, and you won’t see it for that long. 6 months later, this asterism traverses the sky during the night rather than day, allowing us to easily see it in all its majesty at a much more civilized time.
Looking South, a major jewel in the crown of stargazing here in the Southern Hemisphere, we’ll find Kahui o Mahutoka (The southern Cross) & Te Taura (The Pointers). At this time of year, they are really easy to see without craning your neck too much, as are the visual treats of Carina, sitting high enough above the horizon to allow their light to pass through the atmosphere without too much interference.
Whakaruru-hau (The Magellanic Clouds - our nearest galaxies) are easily visible with the naked eye when the moon is either small or not in the sky. Our telescope, binoculars and camera allow us to take an even better view of them. Due to the darkness and lack of light pollution in the skies around Wai-Tāhuna (Queenstown) they are just about visible when Rākaunui (The Full Moon) traverses the heavens.
Yes you can see the Aurora Australis in Summer - Will you get Lucky on your Starry Nights Adventure?
If you’ve been reading comments about Kā Kurakura o Hinenuitepō (Aurora Australis) not making an appearance during Raumati (Summer), that’s simply not true. To witness an Aurora depends upon many things. One of the main contributing factors is that it needs to be dark.
Our days here in Wai-Tāhuna (Queenstown) are really long during the summer months, which in turn reduces the actual number of hours available when all the other conditions need to line up. Other than that, as the photos and timelapse show, we’ve seen some beautiful light shows to the magnetic South this summer.
We keep an eye on the Aurora forecasts and these often influence the location choices we make. We do our very best to show you any Auroral activity during your Starry Nights Adventure. If it’s looking like there’s some activity we have been pointing the camera South to capture a timelapse whilst we explore the heavens. You’ll get this timelapse, along with the rest of your photos delivered to you electronically.
The longer days also mean that our tours start a wee bit later, and it really is worth having a slightly later night. We’re currently scheduling pick up to be around 10:30 to 11pm, even though when you book, due to a very strange booking system anomaly, you have to select a 9pm time slot.
If you’d like more information about the moon phases and what we’ll see during the tour during the dates you have available, please emailus@authenticAs.org and we’ll help you plan the best possible date to book.
Whilst it’s so much warmer, our Starry Nights Adventures happen at night when it’s not as warm. A slight bit of a breeze can make all the difference, so we do recommend that you bring a good jacket or jumper. Long trousers / skirt and ankle covering socks all make a huge difference. That tiny bit of exposed ankle can be a bit like a mosquito in the room at night, once you notice the chill it’s very hard to ignore, but incredibly easy to avoid.
There’s always a cup of Cadbury’s Hot chocolate and cookies available to get your temperature back to normal again.
Summer stargazing really is an amazing experience, and we believe we have crafted a beautiful way for our manuhiri (visitors) to soak up the splendours of the Southern Night Sky and create lifelong memories.
“Humbled by Beauty of the NZ Night Sky
Our tour guide, Simon, has a degree in astrophysics and is extremely knowledgable. My husband and I appreciated his patience in explaining complex concepts in layman terms. We also liked how Simon payed homage to New Zealand’s Māori heritage.
Simon made us feel comfortable and took memorable photos of a gorgeous night sky. We were lucky and experienced the Southern Lights, Aurora Australis.
Experiences like this make one feel connected with Nature, and humbled by how beautiful the Universe is.
We truly enjoyed this experience and would high recommend this tour.”
Kōaka (Spring) has well and truly sprung. Without a doubt this is one of the most beautiful times of the astronomical year.