Astronomical events coincide with first Matariki public holiday

Saturn, Mars, Venus and Jupiter in alignment. Photo / Facebook

By Mana Wikaire-Lewis of Maori Television

One of the southern hemisphere's most beautiful celestial events is taking place this month.

Every year in May, as the planet passes through a stream of dust and ice left by Haley's Comet, the Eta Aquariid meteor shower lights up the skies.

Josh Aoraki (Kai Tahu) from the Auckland Stardome Observatory says it's "extra exciting" to see the Eta Aquariid this year, as another equally astonishing event aligned in the same day.

"We were seeing four planets in a line in the morning sky, and it just happened to be in the same area of the sky as the meteor shower, so it was quite spectacular this year.

Josh Aoraki. Photo / Supplied

"The reason the [Eta Aquariid] is so special for us is that it's one of the best to see in the southern hemisphere. We have dozens of meteor showers every year, but a lot of them are favourable to the northern hemisphere.

"We're also getting another planet next month [in Mercury] at the time of Matariki, so it's really special to be getting a lot of these things happening at once."

Aoraki's recount of the event early on Sunday morning describes that he saw 40 meteors per hour with his own eyes.

Saturn, Mars, Venus and Jupiter in alignment. Photo / Facebook

"For me, it's a really good way to whakī tō wairua, to fill up your wairua. It's a really good connection to Te Taiao. I akin it to the same feeling that you get when you go to the ngāhere – meteor showers are kind of the equivalent of that to me."

Aoraki says that when Mercury comes into alignment with Saturn, Mars, Venus and Jupiter on Matariki, the moon will also join the line too, with people able to view these spectacles, plus the Eta Aquariid, for the next couple of weeks.