Aurora, dark skies and backyard astronomy from Aotearoa New Zealand
Practical notes for watching the southern sky: when the aurora australis might show, where the darkest skies are, which telescope to start with, and how to keep a backyard setup working through a New Zealand winter.
Latest notes
How to find due south from the Southern Cross and the Pointers, why there is no southern pole star, and how the Cross shifts through the night and the seasons.
How to find the Matariki star cluster low in the north-east before dawn in late June and July, with tips for practising in summer and the binocular view.
Dobsonian, refractor or Schmidt-Cassegrain? A practical guide to choosing a first telescope in New Zealand, and the southern targets that make it worthwhile.
Where to find properly dark skies in the North Island, from Aotea and the Wairarapa coast to the central plateau, with notes on access, weather and safety.
A guide to New Zealand's certified dark sky reserves, sanctuaries and parks, from Aoraki Mackenzie to Wairarapa, and what each designation actually means.
Kp, Bz, solar wind speed and BoM watches explained for New Zealand observers, plus how to judge whether tonight's aurora australis is worth a drive south.
From the sky archive
Pages this site has carried since the early 2000s, rewritten and brought up to date.
- Astronomy Day in New Zealand
- Aurora australis in New Zealand: the basics
- Aurora watching from Wellington's south-facing hills
- Comet C/2001 Q4 (NEAT): the naked-eye comet of May 2004
- Comet NEAT (C/2002 V1) in the March 2003 twilight
- Deep-sky imaging targets for the southern hemisphere
- Finding the planets from New Zealand
- How to see and photograph the aurora australis
- Lunar eclipses from New Zealand
- Moon halos, moonbows and other lunar sky effects
- New Zealand astronomy links
- Observing and imaging the Sun safely
- Sun halos and sundogs over New Zealand
- The great solar storms of late 2003, seen from New Zealand
- Timing lunar occultations from New Zealand