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Story: Night sky

Star map of southern skies

P l a n e o f t h e E c l i p t i c T h e M o o n a n d P l a n e t s a r e s e e n a l o n g t h i s b a n d CAPELLA ALGOL RIGEL MIRA HYADES CANOPUS ALPHACRUX ADHARA ACHERNAR 47 TUCANAE ALPHACENTAURI HADAR MIMOSA OMEGACENTAURI SIRIUS FOMALHAUT BETELGEUSE ALDEBARAN PROCYON REGULUS CASTOR POLLUX SOUTH CELESTIALPOLE LargeMagellanicCloud Eridanusthe Riverof Stars SmallMagellanicCloud TheSouthernCross TheCoal Sack Pleiades Andromeda NORTH SOUTH Stars within the circle are circumpolar never setting below the horizon GLOBULAR CLUSTER BRIGHTER STARS Milky Way Galaxy Stars within the circle are circumpolar, never setting below the horizon

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

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.

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How to cite this page

John Field and Maggy Wassilieff, Night sky – Earth’s near neighbours, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/diagram/7898/star-map-of-southern-skies (accessed 5 June 2026).

Story by John Field and Maggy Wassilieff, published 2 March 2009.

Comments

Rick Swan
14 July 2020
Are we likely to be able to see comet Neowise in NZ this month? If so, where would we look for it please?
J F Harper
17 September 2013
Te Ara'a map of the southern stars labels the southernmost bright star in the Southern Cross as Alpha Crux. It should be Alpha Crucis because astronomers always use the Latin genitive case of constellation names