Moon Phases
January:
1st January - first quarter
9th January - full moon
16th January - last quarter
23rd January - new moon
31st January - first quarter
February:
8th February – full moon
15th February – last quarter
22nd February – new moon
Planets
January:
Mercury – low in east before sunrise
Venus – bright and low in the west after sunset
Mars - red in colour, rising in the east before midnight
Jupiter – bright in the north west at sunset
Saturn – rising around, yellowish and bright in the east
February:
Mercury – hard to see in the western twilight
Venus – bright and very low in the west at sunset
Mars – rising at sunset in the east, red in colour
Jupiter – bright and low in the west at sunset
Saturn – bright and yellowish in colour, rising in the east around 11pm
Astronomy Fiordland News
December
We have a had a brilliant summer so far, one of the hottest on record in the last few decades!! This has made it perfect for star viewing. The highlight for December would have to be the planet Jupiter. Every night we can see the four Galilean moons plus one or two others. Jupiter has over 60 moons, some quite small but others large enough to see throught the binoculars we supply – never mind the telescope even! The other neat thing about Jupiter is you can see the weather systems in its atmosphere. Equitorial winds blow brown cloud belts along at speeds up to 300 km/hr and on a good night when Jupiters rotation is kind to us we can even see the big storm, the largest known weather system in the solarsystem, large enough to swallow a couple of Earths! Jupiter is getting low in the west and should be visible into February – get in quick though to catch a piece of the action before it disappears for another season.
November
A busy month for Astronomy Fiordland with the start of the summer season. Brilliant weather for most of the month meant the LiveSky trip has been popular. One small moment of frustration was when the sky clouded in for the partial solar eclipse for the 25/11 and was only glimpsed fleetingly through the cloud layer!! The highlight at this time of year is the Globular Cluster 47 Tucanae containing over 2 million stars visible through the eye piece on the telescope. Being high in the sky it is well placed for spring viewing and renders guests speechless. On a non astronomy note we have launched a new trip, 'Heritage Tales' focusing on all that one needs to know about Fiordland - from rare birds to lost tribes, shipwrecks to arson, rainforests to ghost towns - we cover it all right up to the present day!
October
With beautifully clear skies for most of October the night sky has been a real treat. Scorpius (Te matau a maui) sinking lower in the west with Sagittarius and the galactic centre heading that way too it is farewell to our winter companions and hopefully soon a welcome to Te ra o tainui (Orion Taurus and the Pleiades) and warm summer days. We had our first good viewing of Jupiter as mentioned in our September news. The galilean moons were all visible (4 total) and the highlight as always is seeing the cloud formations on Jupiter itself. It is amazing to witness the weather on another planet. Come along.....check it out for yourself!
September
With the night sky in extreme brilliance above our heads the news is much the same as last August with the exception of Jupiter making an appereance now at a respectable hour. The bright Jovian giant is low in the eastern sky and makes brilliant observing – especially as it gets higher into the night sky every evening and into 'cleaner' air making observing much more rewarding. Astronomy Fiordand has been busy putting together the final stages of a new trip to be revealed next month. While not a true astronomy trip there are certainly similiarities as the trip focuses on the complete history of Fiordland in a two hour excursion based from Te Anau. More to follow – watch this space (geddit? ... I know, I'm sorry).
August
We had brilliant weather for most of August, nice and mild too. We said goodbye to our last glimpses of Saturn - arguably the highlight of night sky viewing through a telescope. This is also an unforgettable time of year for pure star magic. With the Milky way high overhead it can be a bit overpowering for some people who come from larger cities with light and air pollution obscuring all but the brightest stars. Even for those more fortunate it is always an exciting time of year with the Milky way at its brightest and broadest above us. Most people are unaware they are looking edgewise into our home galaxy - with over 200 billion stars - and as you look up you will notice it 'bulges' right above your head. This is very obvious during August. This is the centre of our home galaxy around 30 000 light years away. The dark gaps are actually nebula, dark patches of gas and dust, perhaps future stars in the making blocking the light from the stars behind them. Take the time to scan along here with a set of binoculars, ordinary household kinds are fine and take it in!
July
A beautiful time of the year to be out and looking up. The centre of the Milky way galaxy moves towards zenith (a point above your head) with the galactic central bulge clearly visible. Most people are blown away when it is pointed out to them as it so obvious and unmistakeable and so full of meaning....staring into the centre of our greater home! We also had another busy month on the school front as we had our first visit to Riverton with the primary school, Aparima High school and also the local kindy all studying varying degrees of planets, seasons, the milky way and Matariki. The kindy kids were very relieved to make it back to Earth in time for lunch as they were convinced the dome had taken off and was hurtling around the cosmos. Woodland full primary school also had a visit studying the history of the moon landings, deep space objects and galaxies. Being a small school 20 mins out from Invercargill, it shows how small isolated schools benefit from the mobility of the dome bringing the latest in interactive, immersive technology to students and teachers. Our last show for the month was the Fiordland kindergarten with the young kids pulling on their anti gravity socks for some deep space flights. Great fun!
June
A quieter June on the Astronomy front with the team having a well earned holiday. Celestial activity carried on regardless with a couple of auroras being sighted. When we got back to the telescope it was brilliant. Highlights inluded the Southern Cross being high in the sky dragging along all those deep sky goodies such as Omega Centauri - the brightest globular cluster in the sky with approximately 5 million stars and the Jewel box - one of our favourite, understated open clusters with quite a bit of colour in it too. Saturn was high in the sky also for optimal viewing making it rewarding for those who braved the winter chills to cross it of their bucket list.
May
What a month! Astronomy Fiordland has been busy introducing new schools, kindys, childcares and scout groups to the wonders of the universe. We spent a couple of days at Otatara School in Invercargill studying seasons on planet Earth, then the life, death and birth of stars in the Milky Way. The school put on a parents night to introduce parents to what the students were getting up to in the big blue dome. The Kindy and Childcare followed and we sampled what it was like to float in space and on the shapes, sizes and colours of the planets. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience for all. Otago University teachers college Southland campus also visited with a brush up on the basics and then into some reasonably heavy stuff such as redshifting galaxies, binary stars and some instellar philosophy mixed in during a very relaxed anything goes session. Welcomes to the Stardome fold inlcude Salford and Waianiwa schools. We spent the days at these schools studying seasons, constellations and the milky way. St Patricks school was next on the list with the focus being on Matariki - maori new year - the legends - fact and the fiction. We also focused on other major contstellations and how to find them plus how they fitted into story telling from other cultures. Finally we hosted the Te Anau Scout group for - obviously - naked eye celestial navigation. We also introduced them to concepts that demystify the universe and demonstrate how it affects your day to day life and survival. Phew!
Hopefully this demonstrates the flexibility of what we can offer and tailor to different ages, groups and schools. Drop us a line and see how we can revolutionise your understanding and teaching of various sciences.
April
The arrival of the constellation Te Matua a Maui (the fish hook of Maui) otherwise known as Scorpius on the eastern horizon heralds the onset of autumn and the end of our summer viewing season. It has been a real pearler as far as viewing conditions have been concerned. Astronomy Fiordland decided to celebrate by upgrading the Stardome hardware and software to demonstarte to our customers that we are serious about remaining up to date in techonology and offering only the best. Thanks to all those who made the summer of 2010/11 what it was...FUN!
March
Welcome back to Saturn!! Arguably the most beautiful object to look at in the night sky. The memory of seeing this stunning object through a good size telescope is one that will stay with you forever. Come and have a look! It has been a busy month as usual - even more so with the trial launch of our slightly non astronomy related 'Town and Mountains' tour. Our observing sites offer impressive views over the rugged landscape that is Fiordland. Due to curiosity from our LiveSky tours about the mountainous silhouettes we decided to offer daytime tours to let people enjoy the view. We coupled this with Fiordlands unbelievable history to put together a 2 hour tour. We hope to have this fully up and running with website, brochures by September. If you are interested just drop us an email through this address.
February 2011
The European Space Agency (ESA) launched its resupply ship the ATV-2 Johannes Kepler. Named after the famed German astronomer and mathematician who lived in the 16th and 17th centuries. It is packed with about 7.1 tons (6,400 kilograms) of supplies for the space station's six-person crew and is due to arrive at the orbiting laboratory Feb. 24. There is also a mountain range and famous tramping track named 'Kepler' on the shores of Lake Te Anau where Astronomy Fiordland is based, also named after the astronomer. The ESA uses a satillite tracking station at Awarua, near Invercargill, to help keep track of vehicles such as Kepler. In recognition of the part Southland plays in their tracking abilities the ESA came to Te Anau for public talks and to participate in a space camp involving around 20 schools. It is not everyday small town Southland has access to a space agency and Astronomy Fiordland joined the fray using the Stardome to help to help immerse the students and teachers in the universe. The focus was of how connected we are to the cosmos and how much a part it plays in our daily lives. Fortunately the night was crystal clear so we backed up the Stardome with our large telscope provinding a grand finale to the space camp with glorious views of starclusters and the moon. Thanks to the organisers and ESA it was a wonderful experience - I am sure the students enjoyed it as much as we did!
January 2011
We are mid way through our busy summer programme and are pleased to welcome in some of old 'new' highlights again for this time of year. Omega Centauri, the largest globular cluster in the sky has reappeared above the horizon at sunset. To see its 5 million stars through the eyepiece is an experience that you will get you buzzing. We team it up with a slightly brighter globular cluster 47 Tucanae which is home to over 2 million stars making the night unforgettable! Close to Omega Centauri is the hard to see and very distant (10 - 16 million light years away) galaxy Centauris A thought to be home to a large black hole. Lucky observers had their first glimpse of this on Thurday 27th. All this and so much more - come and see what the fuss is about!
December
A great summer is seeing plenty of nights for our LiveSky tours with the visitor season picking up substantially. Unfortunately our Eclipse on the 21st was clouded in. Be in quick as Jupiter (a must see) is dropping quickly in the western sky now and will be hard to make out the detail soon. The Southern Cross climbs higher in the sky dragging with it all the goodies such as the Pin cushion star cluster, the Jewel box cluster and the Tarantula nebula among others. Beautiful summer twilights leading in to crystal clear Fiordland skies.....a magic way to finish your day!
November
Beautiful weather has meant a great response to our LiveSky tours so it is with pleasure we welcome back the constelation of Orion. Our dominant summer constellation, it is known in NZ as 'The Pot'. In the handle of the pot is the great Orion nebula, a cradle of new star growth that has to be seen to be fully comprehanded. Orion, Taurus the bull and the Pleiades make the great Maori constellation 'Te Ra O Tainui' which is a highlight of our trips at the moment. The Stardome is again operation for the summer and provides a complimentary experience to our LiveSky.
October 2010
It has been a busy October with our live night sky viewing trips kicking off. Stunning weather and skies has seen a record number of people turning out to come on our LiveSky trips. Highlights at this time of year are Jupiter, the globular cluster 47 Tucanae (2 million stars in an area the size of a pin head) and seeing both Orion and Scorpius on opposites sides of the sky. Come on down and see what all the fuss is about!
September 2010
Astronomy Fiordland is enjoy the warmer weather!! As our dominant winter constellation Scorpius the scorpion gets close to the horizon at sunset it will not be long before Orion (bringer of the hot fine weather) should start to show. It is also a treat with an extremely bright Venus in the west and Jupiter in the east making it a very interesting time of year. With Fiordland being New Zealands outdoor capital we have been running guide training workshops over September to help the regions many outdoor guides cope with those tricky questions form excitable clients. Feel free to enquire how our tailored workshops can help your staff and ulitmately your clients experiences.
August 2010
Similar again to our May news, cruising the remote southern fiords of New Zealand on board the Real Journeys vessel the Milford Wanderer. Passengers amazed by the scenery, wildlife, history and the STARS!! With visits to Astronomers Point in Captain Cooks 'Dusky Bay" (now Dusky Sound) where the new 'watch machines' were being tested for accuracy against the stars by Cooks astronomer, William Wales. Searching for accurate ways of keeping time to establish longitude in navigation, the battle between the astronomers and the watch makers, John Harrison in particular, was drawing to a close. Passengers were delighted to then follow things up with night and mornings (for the keen ones!) star viewing in some of the cleanest purest, most amazing skies in the world.
Steeping straight off the boat and into the Stardome with Mararoa School it was all go as they were studying 'Water - our most precious resource.' Finding out about waters cosmic origins was fun for all. Iona Brimbecombe (year 4) declared in the local newspaper "It felt as if we were in a real space shuttle at times. I thought the asteroids were really going to hit us." Fortunately there were no collisions but as part of conservation week we visited spacejunk. The whole school was surprised about how much junk orbits our planet and the efforts space agencies go to to avoid collisions between junk and space craft.
July 2010
Astronomy Fiordland visited our smallest school so far. Hedgehope has a roll of just 33 students of all ages. With the juniors studying the bread and butter day and night basics the seniors hit their straps and launched into season, stars what they are made of and constellations. To those small schools that can find it difficult to offer all the major schools can, don't hesitate to see how easy and affordable it is for Astronomy Fiordland to offer a world class experience whatever the weather, no stressfull and expensive field trip hassles necessary!!
June 2010
Thick fog unfortunately prevented us from viewing the partial lunar eclipse on the 26/6 which was a shame. We get another chance in December with a full lunar eclipse. Fingers crossed! It has been a busy month for Astronomy Fiordland with two highlights leaping to mind; one being visiting our first school visit in Gore (St Marys School) for the day with the stardome. Junior students were studying night and day and the seasons, seniors looked at the Milky way and the solar system. It was a complete success with teachers already excited about our next visit! The other highlight was assisting the Otago University with the Science Waananga held in Invercargill. It was a science festival attended by maori pupils from 8 schools and included a guest speaker demonstrating exo planet finding techniques.
9/5/10 - 21/5/10
Passengers on board Real Journeys vessel 'Milford Wanderer' were treated to some beautiful night skies during their seven day Discovery Cruise of New Zealands southern fiords. This very remote, untouched world heritage area (accessible only by boat, helicopter or float plane) has some of the darkest skies on the planet and offered a special touch to such a unique of trip, an ancient landscape under a timeless sky. Guests aboard the ship were so keen they were up not only in the evening but before the Autumn sun to view Jupiter and its moons. This neatly ties in with some of the history the area offers such as Captain Cook and the search for longitude - the race between the clockmakers and astronomers to establish 'time' and ultimately accurate navigation.
30/4/10
Astronomy Fiordland finishes its summer viewing programme with a flourish. An aurora, a record nember of visitors, glorious weather meant it was a very enjoyable month. We ran the stardome for various end of season functions for several companies proving a big hit! Don't forget to drop us a line to see what we can do for you!
4/4/10
Clients on our regular night sky viewing trip were thrilled to see an Aurora! Particles thrown out from the sun during solar flares hit the Earths atmosphere and spiral in towards the poles giving up their energy to form aurora at heights of 100 - 200km As the sun gets more active hopefully these stunning occurences will become more common.
31/3/10
Welcome back to the constellation Te Matua a Maui (Scorpius), making its sunset debut low on the south eastern horizon. Very much a kiwi constellation I guess you'll have to come out with us to find out why!! It means that winter is on its way as the scorpion chases our summer constellation Orion from the sky.
5/3/10
Astronomy Fiordland is pleased to announce that all guests on either of our two excursions receive a full colour star and sky map detailing all the objects (and more) that we explore on our trips as well as reminders such as finding south with the cross. It is purpose designed for our trips - a special souveneir of a memorable experience....and practical too!!
12/2/10
Astronomy Fiordland's stardome gets a seating upgrade!! We now feature fully padded reclining sunloungers with arm rests so guests can relax and stretch out in complete comfort as the heavens unfold before them. This furthers our commitment to a quality experience in comfort instead of squeezing more people in at the expense of the experience on our nightly 'Stardome' excursion.
1/2/10
Saturn makes its appearance in the sky later in the evening on our night sky safaris. A delight to see, ethereal almost, most guests then look down the telescope to make sure I have not put a sticker on lens to fool them!! It's THAT good!!
14/1/10
Approximately 40 Girl Guides plus their leaders spread out in the stardome with room enough for everyone to lie down and relax while staring up into the sky for another stunning Astronomy Fiordland sunset. This was a private hire with an emphasis on navigation and general earth sciences such as why we get seasons. Being part of an exciting summer camp with girls from all around Southland joining in, the stardome proved the perfect solution for learning celestial navigation. The tailored show demonstrated one of our strengths perfectly - tailoured live content of a set duration in a fun, highly exciting and unconventional environment. It was complete success with the girls taking away heaps that would not have been possible without the stardome.
8/1/10
Astronomy Fiordland is one of the best, one stop astronomy shops in the country. Not a bad acheivement for a very small town. It was no surprise to make an apperance with the stardome during the Department of Conservations summer programme. Designed with the community in mind approximately 60 people showed up to see how the DOCs 'behind the scenes' theme applied to the night sky. Not anticipating such a large amount of people the show was changed to highlights of the southern skies to maximise everyones enjoyment through increased audience participation such as calling out where to visit next in the night sky and general questions that some people have had for years. A great time was had by all! Thanks Te Anau - we enjoy being part of such a healthy community.
31/12/9
Astronomy Fiordland farewells 2009 and welcomes in 2010 with exclusive hire by Fiordland Lodge, luxury 5 star accomdation. With our entire observatory / planetarium being portable we were able to travel to our guests and have a wet or fine evening option available to match the weather. As it was a chilly westerly wind and a reasonable amount of cloud meant the stardome was used and was the perfect option to suit all nationalities and all ages. Travelling through the solar system we learned you wouldn't get to see many new years on Pluto as it takes 249 earth years to go around the sun (which equals 1 Pluto year). Then it cleared up for the fireworks! Brilliant!! Happy new year!!!
1/12
This months highlight is the rising of our summer constellation 'Orion'. Containing the great nebula it is a delight to be seen in our large telescope and will amaze even with binoculars. Look in the east for Orions belt, otherwise known romantically as 'the pot' or 'saucepan' here in New Zealand and that is exactly what it looks like. Look in the middle of the handle of the pot and bingo – you can't miss it! The keen eyed will spot it as a slight haze with the naked eye on a dark night.
1/11
The stardome bursts into life for visitors to Te Anau with this summers 'sky tonight' theme including a quick orientation of the universe so everybody knows where they fit into the big, very big picture!
1/10
This summers night sky safari starts with the undisputed highlight going to Jupiter. The moons and surface detail amaze all.
24/9
Astronomy Fiordlands stardome ventured to Limehills School in rural southland. In a classic demonstration of how small rural schools can benefit from our portable class leading technology we tailored a series of shows for 3 different classes. With night and day, the earth / moon relationship and the solar system explained we also created an Apollo theme that the students had been studying. Managing to get everyone back from the moon in time for lunch was the hard part - most students could have stayed all day! Our ability to travel means small town schools get access to Educational technologies previously only available to big city schools which is what most teachers commented on.
18/9
Both the stardome and large telescope of Astronomy Fiordland were needed for the Department of Conservations 'Conservation week' theme. Starting off in the stardome over 50 eager members of the public showed up to learn about light pollution and space junk in our immersive fulldome environment. The show was kept light hearted but informative and received the big thumbs up. We then ventured out into the carpark to look through the large telescope. It was a beautiful clear night and the highlight was seeing the cloud bands on Jupiter and 4 of its 64 moons and millions of stars in globular cluster 47 Tucanae. It was the first time most people had looked through a telescope so it was exciting and memorable for all!!
11/9
Crew from the Real Journeys Doubtful Sound overnight vessel the Fiordland Navigator ventured into the stardome for a trip into the highlights of the southern skies. The vessel operates in a remote world heritage area so is the ideal platform for clients and staff alike to witness the beauty of the untouched night sky. The crew were thrilled with the stardome experience and hopefully gave them the confidence to venture outside with their clients at the end of the day.
13th August
Pre schoolers from the Te Anau Child Care Centre and The Key Playcentre blast off to explore the solar system with a focus on the sun and moon in our immersive stardome!! The kids were the quietest they had ever been and enjoyed flying through the asteroid field....especially some of the 'bigger kids' (parents)!
30th - 31st July
Astronomy Fiordland takes New Zealands first potable full dome digital planetarium to the schools of Invercargill. 29 schools were invited for a series of demonstrations at Verdon College, Southland Girls High school and Southland Boys High School aimed at showing teachers the massive flexibility of our planetarium. A complete success with an A+ pass, 100%!! We look forward to our return and catching up with teachers and students again.
27th June - 2nd & 4 July
Astronomy Fiordland celebrated Matariki (Maori new year) with a tailored presentation of its meaning and how to find it in the sky. We also launched the New Zealand Premiere of the movie 'In Search of our Cosmic Origins' which follows the history of first telescope by Galileo, to the largest Astronomy project ever undertaken being constructed in the Chilean dessert.
4th June
Astronomy Fiordland spent the whole day with Fiordland College Seniors. They are currently studying the Solar system, Earth / Moon relationships and constellations. A good time was had by all with our tailored, interactive presentations