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| Quick pick >> Iridium Flares : Satellites : The Moon & Planets : The Starry Sky : Q & A | |
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Obtain predictions of what's happening in Tekapo, or your sky wherever you live in the world! |
Iridium Flares
Tekapo-based flare watchers have several events to see over the coming week (weather permitting). In conjunction with Heavens Above, we can now provide you with customised interactive viewing predictions for the next seven days — see at a glance when and where in the sky the brightest flares occur and where you need to be to see them at their best. To find out more just click here, or visit our Twitter page for news of the brighter events.
Satellites
For customised viewing details of the International Space Station, Space Shuttle (when in orbit) and Hubble Space Telescope for any location worldwide, please click here. (Note: this feature requires pop-up windows to be enabled in your web browser.)
The Moon & Planets
Wednesday, March 10th sees the 24-day-old waning crescent Moon amid the constellation of Sagittarius, rising well after midnight as seen from Tekapo. Mars is the bright orange 'star' low to the north by 11 pm. The planet is now receding from the Earth and lies some 125 million kilometres distant in the direction of constellation Cancer. Glorious ringed planet Saturn — a telescopic favourite during our Star Tours — is now visible low to the east soon after 9 pm against the constellation backdrop of Virgo.
The Starry Sky
If you're not sure which four stars comprise the Southern Cross, locate bright stars Alpha Centauri (the nearest naked-eye nighttime star at a distance of 4.3 light-years) and Beta Centauri that lie just under a span of an outstretched hand at arm's length to the lower right of Crux which act as the so-called Pointer Stars to the diminutive constellation.
The Southern Cross is set against the backdrop of our Galaxy, or the Milky Way, the diffuse band of light composed of thousands of millions of stars that arches overhead from southeast to northwest, best seen on dark, moonless nights. The entire region is rich in star clusters, nebulae and other memorable sights in a pair of binoculars or a telescope.
The object labelled as NGC 5139 on the chart is more popularly known as Omega Centauri — a spectacular globular cluster of 4 million stars some 16,000 light-years away. Don’t miss it on one of our stargazing tours, particularly on moonless nights!
The constellation is readily identified owing to the three stars in a line that represent Orion's Belt — to give you a sense of scale, the three stars span about half the length of your thumb held at arm's length.
The Orion Nebula is a vast star-forming region some 1300 light-years distant that shows a wealth of detail in our telescopes; it frequently appears in our online Gallery.
Extend the line of Orion’s Belt down and to the left by the span of an outstretched hand at arm's length and you will find red giant star Aldebaran, 40 times the Sun's diameter and 65 light-years distant. Aldebaran is Arabic for "the follower", since it follows the Pleiades star cluster across the sky.
Extend the line of Orion's Belt a span of an outstretched hand at arm's length up and to the right and you will encounter the night sky's brightest star, Sirius. Some 8.6 light-years distant, this star is approximately twice the mass of the Sun and 25 times its luminosity.
Would you like to find out more about these objects and a multitude of other Southern Hemisphere celestial wonders? If so, then please join any one of our stargazing tours at Mount John or Cowan's Hill — we'd be delighted to show you!
Q & A
Do you have a question about the stars, Sun, Moon or planets that you've always puzzled over? Our Guides may not have answers to "Life, the Universe and Everything", a phrase coined by the late great Douglas Adams, but they're knowledgeable and will do their best to resolve questions posed in the box below! Once you're typed your question (please include your e-mail address), press the submit button to send it to us:
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