YOURMATARIKI

KETE

Learn about Matariki. How do you

find it in the sky and why is it important?

Includes a competition and pull-out

poster.

20

19P

RIM

AR

YE

DIT

ION

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?For many iwi, Matariki resets the

Māori lunar calendar (maramataka).

Calendars use the Moon to set

the months and the Sun to mark

the seasons.

The cycle of the Moon around Earth

(lunar cycle) doesn’t fit evenly into

the cycle of Earth around the Sun

(solar cycle). Each year, the Moon

cycle is around 11 days shorter than

the solar cycle, meaning that after

12 months there are still about

11 days until Earth returns to the same

position in its orbit around the Sun.

Stars can be used to reset the

calendar because they appear in the

same place at the same time every

year. When you see Matariki rising in

the north east at early dawn, you’ll

know the maramataka will soon be

reset and a new year begins again.

The Māori New Year begins

traditionally at the first crescent

Moon after the first appearance

of Matariki in the morning sky.

This occurs between early June

and the first week of July.

Matariki is

a cluster of

stars in the

constellation

Taurus. There

are about

a thousand

stars in

Matariki but

only some

can be seen

with the

naked eye.

MeropeUrurangi

Wind

AlcyoneMatariki

Eyes of Tāwhirimātea

ElectraWaipuna-ā-rangi

Wet weather and rain

Maia

WaitaSalt water

Atlas

WaitiFresh water

TaygetaTupu-ā-rangi

Sky tohunga

PleioneTupu-ā-nuku

Earth tohunga

MATARIKI – the eyes of TāwhirimāteaTāwhirimātea (Atua of the wind) is almost always watching over Papatūānuku (earth mother) as Matariki can be seen throughout most of the year. But then, just before mid-winter, Matariki hides behind Tamanuiterā

(the Sun), and we can no longer see these eyes looking down on us. This is when it is the coldest and darkest time of the year. When we can just see Matariki at sunrise, we know that the Sun will start staying in the sky for longer, the days will become warmer, and it is time to celebrate the festival of Matariki.

WHAT IS MATARIKI?

THE CLUSTER, ALSO KNOWN AS THE PLEIADES, IS

DOMINATED BY BLUE STARS WHICH ARE SCORCHING.

THEY ARE MUCH HOTTER THAN OUR SUN!

Puanga (Rigel) is used by some iwi to mark Māori New Year instead of Matariki.

TRADITIONALLY, MĀORI

BELIEVED THAT THE

BRIGHTER THE STARS WERE,

THE WARMER THE COMING

SEASON WOULD BE FOR

GROWING CROPS.

MATARIKI

TAUTORU

21

To find Matariki, look for

Orion’s belt.

1

Follow a line through the three stars of Tautoru

towards north and

you will see a small cluster of stars. You’ve found

Matariki!

2

Matariki is visible most of the year except in

late autumn when it is too close to the Sun.

In New Zealand it rises in the north-east and

sets in the north-west, travelling across the

northern sky in between. This movement,

as with all other stars, is not caused by the

stars themselves moving but by Earth turning,

making it appear to move across the sky.

Matariki appears further and further

away from the eastern horizon as

the year goes on until it sets again

– keep looking for it using this method.

AUCKLAND NORTH-EASTERN DAWN SKY

LATE JUNE / BEFORE SUNRISE

MATARIKIHOW TO FIND

PLEIADES

ORION’S BELT

PUANGARIGEL

DURING LATE JUNE 2019,

YOU WILL SPOT

BRIGHT VENUS

IN BETWEEN

ORION’S BELT

AND MATARIKI.

MATARIKI FROM

OUR SOLAR SYSTEM

URANUSWhērangi

SATURNRongo

MARSMatawhero

The Matariki star cluster becomes hidden for about a month

in early winter due to Earth’s changing perspective as it

orbits the Sun. The stars are hidden behind the Sun from

our point of view in the month of May, and appear

again in our morning sky in the month of June.

The stars in Matariki were

formed around 100 million years

ago – that’s only 1/50th the age of our Sun!

SUNTamanuiterā

Not to scale.

MERCURYApārangi

VENUSKōpū

NEPTUNETangaroa

EARTHPapatūānuku

The star cluster can be seen all around the

world, so it has many diff erent names, like:

The Pleiades Greece

The Seven Sisters Greece

Subaru Japan

The six wives of the six sages Tamil

Seven chickens Thailand

Matali’I Samoan

Astronomers call Matariki Messier45

THE SEVEN BRIGHTEST STARS ARE ALSO CALLED THE ‘SEVEN

SISTERS’. THEY ARE SISTERS BECAUSE OF THEIR CLOSE PROXIMITY

TO ONE ANOTHER, WHICH MAKES THEM A STAR CLUSTER.

ASTRONOMERS ESTIMATE

THE CLUSTER WILL SURVIVE

FOR ABOUT ANOTHER 250

MILLION YEARS BEFORE ALL

THE STARS DRIFT APART.

Matariki can be seen

from almost every single spot on Earth.

MOONMarama

JUPITERPareārau

STARDOME.ORG.NZ

ACTIVITIES

I THINK SPACE IS

beautiful +BIG. IT IS FILLED WITH

STARS, PLANETS,

GALAXIES AND

nebulae.

A G A L A X Y

I S M I L L I O N S O R B I L L I O N S

O F S T A R S , G A S A N D D U S T !

E A R T H I S I N T H E

M I L K Y W A Y G A L A X Y .

This activity can be scaled up or down. Explore your writing skills during the development of your digital artwork, experiment with various art supplies, or research facts on certain galaxies or nebulae to include in your work. We’ve simply given you a few ideas to get started but run wild with the project!

Matarikiand the Māori New Year is a special time for me.

It means FAMILY, friends, food and spending time together.

SPACE ART

YOU'LL NEED• Art supplies – either chalk pastels, paint

or crayons

• 1x construction card per student

• Images of nebula or galaxy as inspiration

• Access to computers or other technology

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Using either your imagination or real deep

space images as inspiration (we suggest

googling images like the Helix Nebula,

Pinwheel Galaxy or the Butterfly Nebula),

play with your art supplies to recreate

a galaxy or nebula on your card. We found

the best way to do this is with chalk pastels

because they smudge easily and blend

to mimic the colours we see in deep

space images.

2. Either smudge white chalk pastel dots

or tap the end of a small paintbrush

dipped in white paint across your image

to create star speckles.

3. Have your teacher scan or take a photo

of your artwork and upload the image

onto a computer or tablet.

4. Open the image in any application which

allows you to add text over the top of an

image. Think about what Matariki, space,

science or stars mean to you. Come up

with a quote, a poem or a fact about

any of these ideas.

5. Add your text and position it over

the top of your space artwork. Play

with design techniques you (or your

teacher) knows, such as font type,

size and colour, to enhance your artwork.

6. Print out your finalised digital artwork

and display it in the classroom to create

a class ‘Space Art’ wall.

Combine art, digital technology,

science and writing into one

hands-on fun activity.

CREATIVE CLUSTERThe Matariki cluster means something different for everyone. After all, it’s seen almost all around the globe so every culture relates to the stars differently. You will have learnt from this booklet that different cultures have various names for the cluster and link the seven stars to stories, legends or meanings.

Why are the stars clustered together? Astronomers know it’s because the stars were formed from the same gas and dust cloud. While the ancient Greeks didn’t know this at the time, their closeness to one another led them to name the cluster the Seven Sisters.

Get creative with your own story on how the seven stars became a cluster! You can use the information in this booklet, your own research, imagination and experience to get started.

HERE’S SOME IDEAS TO GET THINKING:

Timeline:

How long ago did the stars meet?

Location: Where did the

stars meet? In the night

sky, on Earth, on another

planet?

Characters: Do the

stars have personalities?

Names?

Storyteller: Are you telling

the story as one of the

stars OR are you watching

on from Earth?

Mood: Were the stars

happy/sad/excited/angry to be joined together in a

cluster?

A X C S E V E N S I S T E R S

K W E H L D J R A G I M J A S

A F L L J D S O C L A R N S X

T V E A S U R J O K C M Y T O

A D B A R R E Q R F I Y A R E

M C R U O A G B E H S A O O K

A T A S V B H G H I A Y Z N A

R T T O D A S V W E P L S O E

A C I U L D B Z A O L E P M L

M B O J S G K Y T A E U N Y O

C O N S T E L L A T I O N L R

A V S Q U K D B M U A O B E J

N D O P S C A L E N D A R W T

A Y C U J L M O A K E X E R P

A G N I Z A G R A T S G E V O

PLEIADES

MATAWHERO

CELEBRATIONS

MARAMATAKA

STARGAZING

TAURUS

CONSTELLATION

ASTRONOMY

CALENDAR

ALCYONE

SEVEN SISTERS

WORDFIND

Terms and conditions: One entry per person. All contact details must be completed to be eligible for entry. All entries must be received before 5pm on 31 August 2019. Judges decision is final.

NAME:

ADDRESS:

PHONE: AGE:

EMAIL:

SCHOOL:

COMPETITIONWhat do you think the Matariki stars look like up close? Send us your creation and you’ll be in the draw to WIN a $200 Prezzy Card!

SEND YOUR ENTRY TO: Matariki competition, Stardome, PO Box 24 180, Royal Oak, Auckland 1345STARDOME.ORG.NZ