Matariki, Mercury and Aldebaran

I've got to tell you. I've lost significant sleep over this post.  But willingly and happily. I have thoroughly enjoyed producing it, but it did require some early morning photo sessions. It has all sorts of interesting (in my biased opinion) pictures and information in it. So let's get started.

On the 12th of April, 2022, New Zealand passed a bill making Matariki a new national holiday. While it has long been celebrated among Maori, this past Friday's (24/06/22) celebration is the first time the whole country joined in officially. (and lots of workers got another day off)    

In addition to being a new holiday, Matariki is a constellation, known elsewhere as the Pleiades or Seven Sisters.  I was very familiar with this constellation in our northern Michigan sky.  Since living here, I have noticed that it is in a different position than it was back in Michigan of course, and it's upside down now, but is certainly recognizable.  

Here is a link to an explanation of Matariki that will do a much better job than I would in describing it.  

https://pukaha.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/The-Stars-of-Matariki-Ng%C4%81-Whetu-o-Matariki-VC-info-13072020.pdf

Those of you who follow my blog know that a month ago, I did three posts about the 'parade of planets' through the early morning northeastern sky.  I stated in those posts that I hoped to be able to add Mercury to the parade when it became visible in June. 

Well, so far most of June has turned out to be rainy. Even when it wasn't actually raining, clouds obscured the sky, so I didn't see a thing. And even on the clearest of days, Mercury, because of its proximity to the sun, is very hard to see. It usually gets 'washed out' in the Sun's glare.  

However, I have been very fortunate, was gifted with some clear days recently, and was able to spot and photograph little Mercury, low on the horizon, just before dawn. These pictures were taken on the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd of June. BTW, that also happens to be winter solstice time here in New Zealand. 

This marks the first time I have ever, knowingly seen Mercury. Have you ever seen it?  If not, you're in for a treat. (Okay, maybe not as good a treat as some Mainland Creamy Blue cheese or a shot of Glenfarclas 105 scotch, but pretty good nonetheless.)  

And, as it happens, Matariki is now not far from Mercury. (as we see it in the sky that is) It's dim, a bit hard to see, but it's there, and I am pleased to be able to show it to you as well.

This is high in the northeastern sky at about 6 a.m. on the 21st. I know it's a messy picture, but I want you to know where Venus, Mercury and Matariki are in the sky.  

That's the moon way up there, about 75 degrees above the horizon, and Jupiter is at about 5 o'clock to the Moon. Mars comes next, again at about 5 o'clock. Venus is way down below the palms, just barely in the picture.    

For this next photo, I've changed my vantage point. Venus is in the middle of the picture and you can just see a very small, dim Mercury at about 5 o'clock. 

Can you also spot the Sky Tower in downtown Auckland? That's 7.5 miles away from us. 

I have zoomed in and you can see Venus and Mercury much better now. Aldebaran is the star you can see below and to the right of Mercury. 

Mercury's radius is just 1,516 miles and it's about 48 million miles from earth. You are currently seeing only a portion of it because it has phases, like our moon does. If you could look close enough, you'd see it has a crescent shape. 

Aldebaran is a giant star with a radius of more than 19 million miles. It looks dinky because it's 65 light-years from us.  

I've zoomed again. Matariki is very faint, at about 7 o'clock, below Venus.

I blew up this photo even more and increased the light. It's still hard to see Matariki. You may want to reduce the lighting around you to make it more visible.  

These next shots were taken on the 23rd. of June. Notice that Mercury and Aldebaran have moved, relative to each other since the earlier picture.  

Aldebaran now appears to be above Mercury, at about 2 o'clock.  A few of the brighter stars in Matariki are visible.  Can you believe the color of the soon-to-be-dawn sky? I did not edit this picture at all.  

Here, finally, is Matariki.  I had almost despaired of getting a close-up of it.  The humidity this morning when I took this photo was 93%.  I took in fact, a series of photos, both before and after this one, and none of the others came out. The individual stars in those other shots were each very fuzzy. Although I couldn't see any clouds moving through the sky, there must be areas of greater density within the air layers. I was lucky to snap this in between those areas.  

When I think about the Pleiades in our northern Michigan sky, I remember seeing it very distinctly. I think our position there in the northern hemisphere made that possible, as did our very dark rural sky conditions. Here, we have a great deal of light pollution from Auckland to contend with and the constellation is low in the sky besides.    

I also enjoy now thinking of the Pleiades in a new way.  What a fascinating world we live in. 

I don't have a bucket list of things I want to do, but I do have to admit that seeing Mercury for the first time makes me feel as though I accomplished something.  

Next week I am going to show you some additional pictures that I took during my hunt for Mercury and Matariki.  Be sure to check back then.       -djf