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Story: Matariki – Te Tau Hou Māori

Matariki in the night sky

Stars in the night sky labelled left to right with Matariki, Taumata-kuku, Tautoru, Puanga and Takurua.

Amongst other stars and star clusters in the winter sky can be seen Matariki and Puanga (Rigel in Orion), called Puaka by Ngai Tahu in the South Island. Also visible in the winter sky is Takurua (Sirius), Tautoru (the three stars of Orion’s belt), and Taumata-kuku (the bright red giant star Aldebaran).

How to find Matariki

Matariki is found low on the horizon in the north east of the sky. Try looking here between 5.30 a.m. and 6.30 a.m.

1. First find Tautoru (well known as the bottom three stars of ‘the pot’, or Orion’s Belt).

2. To find Puanga (Rigel) look above the pot until you see the bright star – that is Puanga. 

3. To find Matariki, look to the left of Tautoru (the pot), find the bright orange star, Taumata-kuku (Alderbaran). Follow an imaginary line from Tautoru, across to Taumata-kuku and keep going until you hit a cluster of stars. That cluster is Matariki. If you have good eyes you should be able to pick out individual stars. If it looks fuzzy, look just above or just below and the stars will be clearer.

In this video from Te Papa, a different technique for finding Matariki is shown, beginning by locating the Southern Cross.

Using this item

Astronomy NZ

by Richard Hall

Permission of AstronomyNZ must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Paul Meredith, Matariki – Te Tau Hou Māori – Cycles of life and death, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/diagram/5159/matariki-in-the-night-sky (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Paul Meredith, published 2 March 2009, reviewed and revised 30 April 2026 with assistance from Che Wilson.

Comments


29 June 2015
Hi flow in, our image is a diagram, not a photo, and it was sourced from Astronomy NZ. Kind regards, Caren Wilton, Production Editor, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand
flow in
18 June 2015
why is it that maori groups all over NZ post upside down pictures of matariki? Can't you guys do some outreach? Its embarrassing to see northern hemisphere photos of the pleiades plastered over newspapers from Aotearoa.
lily
26 June 2012
good put more facts please
C Peeke
12 April 2012
Kia ora Just a little confused in regards to puanga, can someone please enlighten me as to why puanga is noted on top of tautoru but according to creek mythology (Rigel in Orion) is documented as the left foot. Would really appreciate some help.