In New Zealand, we live mid-latitudes—about halfway between the poles and the equator. This means there are parts of the sky we will always see, and parts that shift and change throughout the night and across the seasons. There are also objects we will never see from New Zealand because they are hidden below our horizon—like the North Star (Polaris), the constellation Cassiopeia, and the Little Dipper.

The part of the sky we can always see is called the Circumpolar Region. These are the stars that circle endlessly around the South Celestial Pole without ever dipping below the horizon. In Wairarapa, for example, constellations like the Southern Cross and Centaurus never set—they’re always visible, if the sky is clear.

The part of the sky that constantly changes is along the Ecliptic. This is the apparent path the Sun, Moon, and planets follow through the sky, against a backdrop of zodiac constellations. It’s why the night sky looks different each season—because Earth is moving around the Sun, and we’re looking outward in a slightly different direction each night.