Wellington Astronomical Society is an incorporated society and registered charity for promoting astronomy in and around the Wellington region.
Upcoming Events
Our latest events are always in the Events section of our Facebook Page. (It’s public, so you don’t need to be a Facebook user to see it)
June 2026 Monthly Meeting
When: Wednesday 3rd June at 7:30 pm
Where: Space Place, Carter Observatory, 40 Salamanca Road, Kelburn
Meeting will also be on Zoom: Meeting ID 868 3785 7650, Passcode: 155311
Speakers: Matt Boucher
Subject: Matarik in Aotearoa and in Astronomy
The season of Matariki is important all across the Pacific, from Kiribati to Rapanui and Hawai’i to Aotearoa. In French Polynesia, it is a national holiday. In Aotearoa, it marks the start of the Māori new year. When our new Matariki public holiday was created in 2022, it was the first to be based on the maramataka, the traditional Māori lunar calendar.
Matariki is observed on the Friday closest to the Tangaroa phase of the Moon following the rising of the Pleiades star cluster in the early morning sky. In 2026, the theme for Matariki is Matariki herenga waka, Matariki as a mooring place for all canoes. This year, the National Matariki celebration will be held in Tāmaki on Friday 10 July and be hosted by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei.
As a midwinter festival, Matariki is a time of reflection, celebration, and preparation. It is a time to remember loved ones, come together with whānau to give thanks for what we have, and to look forward to the promise of a new year. For WAS, it is the busiest time of year for the Outreach team, with many invitations to give talks and star-gazing events.
About our speaker: Matt Boucher is an educator and a former President of WAS. He was born in the US, in New England, and studied science at Northeastern University before graduating from the University of Massachusetts Lowell with a Master of Education (with Science Specialisation). He moved to New Zealand in 2008 and, shortly after looking up at the night sky in the Wairarapa, became hooked on star gazing. He shares his passion for science and astronomy with the kids he teaches. He is currently Tumuaki Tuarua (Deputy Principal) at Raroa Normal Intermediate.
(Note that although our monthly meetings are open to all, only members of the Wellington Astronomy Society may submit targets for selection. You can join here – and it’s half price until the new financial year starts on 1 September.)
Dark sky observing
WAS Astrophotography Group / Dark Sky Observing
When: Saturday the 6th of June from 6:00 pm onwards. Weather permitting.
Where: Star Field, John Whitby’s dark sky site in the southern Wairarapa.
New Moon is on the 15th June.
‘Star Field is at the heart of the newly accredited Wairarapa Dark Sky Reserve, the second dark sky reserve in Aotearoa NZ. (The first is the Aoraki/Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve in the South Island.)
If you’ve never seen the night sky from a dark-sky site before, this will be unforgettable. Antony will give you a tour of the sky with his laser pointer before we get on the telescopes. There is also a lot of expertise available for anyone wanting to photograph the night sky.
This is a free members-only Society event. (To join Wellington Astronomical Society: here’s the link.) Members are most welcome to bring friends but please let us know in advance. Non-members pay $20 each to attend; children $5.
How to register: Contacting us through Facebook Messenger or by emailing events@was.org.nz if you are planning to go. Please include your email address and mobile number in the message text if using Facebook Messenger. Directions to the site and any updates will be emailed out. You are welcome to spend the night on-site (in your tent or in your car), but please tell us if you intend to do so.
What to bring:
Warm clothes, as it gets pretty cold at night, beanie, gloves etc.
Snacks if you want.
Warm drinks are provided.
A warm room is available if you need warming up.
A flush toilet is available on-site.
For astrophotography, bring:
A DSLR or mirrorless camera,
A wide angle lens (preferably),
A tripod to fix the camera to.
Be careful with car headlights when you arrive. With people taking photos, please keep lights to a minimum (use red lights if you can), especially car headlights (use parking lights).
This event will be updated on the WAS Facebook page by the afternoon of the day of the event if the weather forecast is not looking good.
For those just interested in Deep Sky observing, telescopes will be provided unless you want to bring your own.
Star Field is a dark sky site made available to members of the Wellington Astronomical Society through the generosity of John Whitby.
Outreach News
Upcoming Events
Friday 19th June 2026
Northland School 6pm onwards
Saturday 20th June 2026
Dark Sky Experience @ Wainuiomata Regional Park (TBC)
Thursday 255h June 2026
Hutt International Boys School – Upper Hutt (TBC)
We will need volunteers to operate telescopes. If you can help, please contact Jeremy
Recent events
Welly On Wheels Guided Ride: Stargazing Edition – the ride to the Moai Statue in Lyall Bay on Thursday 21 May. Unfortunately it was mostly cloudy to the north over the city but we were able to see the Moon and some more southerly objects.
We had an impromptu viewing event at Wrights Hill for comet PanSTARRS, C/2025 R3. The images below compare the comet seen through a SeeStar S50 with an S30pro.
Interested in attending ad hoc viewing events?
We are setting up a WhatsApp group for the outreach team and any WAS members who are interested in hearing about events. Please send me your phone number and I can add you to the group.
There is the possibility of a comet appearing in late April or early May, providing it doesn’t break up as it passes the Sun: Comet C/2025 R3 (PANSTARRS). We will notify the WhatsApp group if we go comet-hunting (probably at Wrights Hill in Karori).
For information on WhatsApp – https://www.whatsapp.com/
Interested in joining the Outreach team?
One of the main activities of the society is astronomical outreach. Members visit schools, community events (e.g. markets), and cub and scout groups, and we arrange public viewing for eclipses and Matariki. We can only do this through the voluntary efforts of Society members. If you would like to join our team, or to find out more, please e-mail our Outreach lead, Jeremy Robertson.
Cretney Observatory News
Last month’s hands-on workshop, Where do I point my telescope?, in which Matt and Holly taught us how to select targets for the Cretney Observatory, was a great success. The slides are here, so you can go over everything in your own time before sending the information about your target to Matt.
Holly’s icebreaker question at the workshop was, ‘Tell the other pople in your group what three things you would take with you to the ISS.’ Randy Pollock, who leads the Space team at the Robinson Research Institute in Gracefield, was attending on line. ‘My answer is OCO-3 (2019), EMIT (2022), and Hēki (2025).’ As you can see from the dates, his three things have all gone to the ISS!
Professor Randy Pollock will be speaking to us at our meeting on 5 August about the Hēki Mission, how the magnet performed during its extended time on the ISS, and next steps for high-temperature superconductors in space.
The working bee at the Cretney went ahead in early May. The team cleared vegetation and trimmed hedges at Star Field, whilst also bolting the shed to the concrete floor we poured about 18 months ago.
RASNZ Conference 2026
15 – 17 May 2026
Venue: Scenic Hotel Marlborough, 65 Alfred Street, Blenheim
Gather with leading astronomers and passionate enthusiasts to discuss, share, and expand knowledge in astronomy and related sciences.
The Omaka Observatory Trust proudly hosts the 2026 Conference, offering a platform for dialogue and collaboration among astronomers, astrophysicists, and related professionals and amateurs.
Keynote speakers: Professor Jonti Horner, astrophysicist and astrobiologist from the University of Southern Queensland; and Dr Martin George, Principal Astronomer at the Ulverstone Planetarium in Tasmania. Registrations are now open – and it’s not too late to offer a paper. Register here. Note that there is a conference livestream option if you can’t attend in person.
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