I’ve recently returned from visiting family on an extended trip to Aotearoa – Maori for New Zealand – and whilst travelling around used the opportunity to learn something about astronomy in that part of the world (NZ Astro Directory).  Of course, the main difference Down Under is that it’s currently summer, plus everything in the night sky is upside down.

Topsy Turvy – everything’s in the wrong place ! Red arrow = Betelgeuse, Yellow arrow = Orion Nebula

It’s obvious really but relatively speaking the sky has not changed, you’re just  personally inverted compared to the Northern Hemisphere – which from the point of view of astronomy takes some getting used to when looking at otherwise familiar objects such as the Moon or Orion Constellation.  Although being their summer, at our principal location of latitude of 38^o on North Island there was more than four hours of astronomical darkness even on the December solstice; viewed from the perspective of the Northern hemisphere, it is interesting to note that this is about the same latitude as Athens or the Korean DMZ!

Half Moon at home- Surrey, UK

Moon in NZ: upside-down & crescent reversed

It’s all about perspective – obvious really!

Although the weather was mostly very good, I was struck by how frequently the sky at night was cloudy – just like good old Blighty – it is after all also known as The Land of the Long White Cloud by the Maori.  Notwithstanding, as a country with only 4.85 million people most of the country is rural or even desolate, so that when the skies are clear the darkness and seeing conditions can be quite spectacular.  Viewing conditions are particularly good on South Island around the Lake Tekapo and Mt Cook district where a number of astronomy ventures are based, including the University of Canterbury’s Mt John Observatory – shown at the beginning of this blog.  For practical reasons I was restricted to taking only limited equipment – DSLR & lenses + Gorilla Pod & ball head + Vixen Polarie tracker + 10×50 binoculars – but was still able to obtain some pleasing images during the trip.

Mt Cook from near our campsite – the night sky here was fantastic

Early on it became evident that New Zealand seems to have all the right conditions required for the formation of lenticular clouds (altocumulus lenticularis).  I’m presuming this is related to its somewhat exposed position between the South Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea, thus providing favourable wind and moisture conditions which are then influenced by the mountainous tectonic terrain that runs along the spine of South Island and the volcanic topography of North Island.  Whatever it is it works, providing really beautiful and often spectacular sights of these elusive and somewhat rare high altitude cloud phenomena.

Lenticular clouds south of Mt Cook – South Island 

Lenticular clouds near Te Awamutu – North Island 

Prior to arriving in New Zealand I tried unsuccessfully to link up with some local astronomy clubs.  However, close to our base near Te Awamutu on North Island I was able to visit the Te Awamutu Space Centre at nearby Kihikihi.

The Te Awamutu Space Centre – Kihikihi

Conceived and run by the enthusiastic Brit Dave Owen (well he wasn’t going to be a Kiwi was he?), the Centre is an eclectic and interesting collection of space, space programme, astronomy and related educational items (see below).

Essentially the Centre is an outreach programme, which would be of interest to anyone in general, young and old, as well as the seasoned astronomer.  I particularly found the area on New Zealand astronomy & astronomers, astronauts and the historical role of Maoris in astronomy very  interesting.

Maori star names of Mataraki (Pleiades)

As we travelled the length and breadth of the country with the tantalising promise of some very dark skies, I was keen to view and image the Milky Way and particularly the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, which are only visible from the Southern Hemisphere. Thwarted for a while by cloud cover I eventually got my first look at all these features whilst camping near the base of the 3,724 metre Mt Cook on South Island.  The sight did not disappoint but I was unfortunately unable to obtain any images on this occasion.

No worries (as they say in New Zealand – frequently!), a few nights later whilst camping at the improbably named Slab Hut Creek (site of old alluvial gold workings) west of the historic mining town of Reefton, I was at last able to image all these features.  Remotely situated in the middle of woods adjacent to the aforesaid gold creek, the night sky was inky black, albeit with some passing cloud from time-to-time.  Furthermore, located in the centre of the opening were two very large quartz boulders, which provided an ideal platform on which to set up the camera and Gorilla Pod.

A few tons of conveniently placed quartz helped imaging later in the night!

I didn’t get much sleep that night but it was a magical experience and I was thrilled to image both the Milky Way and Magellanic Clouds not individually but together.  As an added bonus we were also able to successfully undertake some gold panning during the day in the creek!

The Milky Way at Slab Hut Creek with the Large & Small Magellanic Clouds

Thereafter I was hindered for the next few weeks by Christmas events and the inevitable full moon at the start of January, though the ISS did pass directly overhead on one evening (New Zealand from the ISS).  However, 10-days later back on North Island at our cottage in the Waipa district, I was eventually able to view and image once again the wonderful sight of the Milky Way + Magellanic Clouds + Southern Cross at the same time – sky chart and image below.

From our base on North Island: The Milky Way & Magellanic Clouds (right) + Southern Cross just above the left-hand side of the roof line 

When the conditions are right the night sky in New Zealand is truly outstanding. I would have liked to spend time there with the full astronomy set-up and camera that I use in the UK but for now I was very pleased to experience and enjoy Antipodean astronomy, it really is worth the long journey.