James Cook’s voyage to Tahiti in 1769 was the culmination of 130 years of work to observe and understand the Transit of Venus. Edmund Halley was instrumental in laying the foundations for the successful observations in 1769 and ultimately solving the Earth – Sun distance.
I am an Astronomy guide. I live in the Aoraki Mackenzie Dark Sky Reserve, working for Earth and Sky where we take people on tours
Ian Cooper is a giant in New Zealand astrophotography. He has been capturing the night sky since the 1970s and in this article he takes us through some of the highlights and give us some tips.
My first cultural encounter, years ago prepared me in an unexpected way about how to be more
“Any photographer that has a question that needs an answer can use PhotoPills. Beginners use it to find sunrise and set times, golden hour and blue hour times and for basic calculations like depth of field. Then we have the photographers that plan their Sun, Moon and Milky Way shots… it all depends on your needs.”
Question. Would you watch a total solar eclipse over Stonehenge? Would you watch a total solar eclipse over Carhenge? What’s Carhenge? I’m glad you asked.
I smiled every morning in Chile watching Orion rise toes first in the sky. It might put a smile on your face to watch him peek above the horizon as he rises in the northern hemisphere. We all have a unique perspective of the universe, and our lives due to our experiences. When you look up, be humbled by the vastness of the universe, but above all keep learning and put a smile on your face, be filled with the joy that is the universe, and let that wonder take you to new possibilities.
Recently published research has demonstrated that the expansion of the universe and black holes may be linked.
Stardate South Island was held 17-19 Feb 2023 at Staveley, near Christchurch. It was a fantastic weekend and you can read all about it here.
Venus doesn’t capture a lot of press time as it’s often overshadowed by the more hospitable Mars and the more photogenic planets of Saturn and Jupiter. It’s not all quiet around Venus, as JAXA has Akatsuki orbiting Earth’s twin and sending back some great images and building our understanding of Venus.
We got AI to describe Einstein’s theory of general relativity, and the results are pretty good. We also got some AI images created.
Milky-Way.Kiwi is a social enterprise for quality and affordable access to the night sky run by professional space science communicators. We provide educational services for teachers and schools – Spaceward Bound NZ, stargazing and astronomy and space courses and programmes for the public – Star Safari and we write about space and astronomy with a New Zealand perspective.
At Star Safari, everyone 15 and younger is FREE because we believe that young people should not pay for inspiration.
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