Story: Night sky

Star map of southern skies

The earth moves around the sun, yet it is the sun that seems to travel against a background of stars. The path the sun seems to take is called the ecliptic. The moon and planets orbit the sun in the same plane as earth, and appear to be close to the ecliptic.

This star map is designed to be held above your head. West and east are oriented correctly when the printed map is viewed in this manner.

Using this item

Starman Productions
Reference: P. Taylor, Naked eye wonders: a short guide to the stars as seen from Aotearoa New Zealand. Auckland: Starman Productions, 2005, p. 65
Diagram by Paul Taylor

This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page:

John Field and Maggy Wassilieff, 'Night sky - Earth’s near neighbours', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/diagram/7898/star-map-of-southern-skies (accessed 28 March 2024)

Story by John Field and Maggy Wassilieff, published 12 Jun 2006