Because in New Zealand we live at mid latitudes, that is we are half way trough from the poles and equator, there are parts of the sky that we will always see and parts of it that will seem to change throughout the night and throughout the seasons. And, of course, there are objects that we will never see from New Zealand, as they are hidden by the Earth, for instance The North Star – Polaris, Cassiopeia and the Small Dipper.
The part of the sky we always see is the Circumpolar Region.
The part of the sky that always changes is the Ecliptic. This is a band of stars that is right behind the plane of our solar system.
There are 88 official constellations in the night sky and many other shapes and figures, we call these asterisms.
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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