NGA WHARANGI

Thursday, April 18, 2013

LINING UP THE STARS AT NIGHT


If you got clear skies above you... 



and tonight Tamaki is cloudy so I can't see them... but if you can... this is what it looks like straight above us right now. If you find Tautoru which is Orions Belt and one of the easiest to identify because its three stars in almost a straight line... then you can get your bearings in a sky full of stars. If you follow the line of the three stars out toward the east you will find Takurua or Sirius... then if you follow the same line out toward the west... thats where you will find Matariki or Pleiades. Puanga (Rigel)... Parearau (Saturn) and Whaka-ahua (Castor) run in a line on about a 90 degree angle to the other one forming a cross of sorts. Puanga is the bright star that sits above Tautoru... This is the summer sky... as the months progress... there is a procession of constellations that our tipuna knew and understood beginning with Matariki and ending with Takirau. 


Mauri Tu... Mauri Po... Mauri Ora

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