They expected 30 — hundreds turned up
Hundreds of people braved the early morning chill on the first official Matariki public holiday to see the stars at Hamilton Observatory’s Matariki viewing.
For Tarsh London, at the event with daughter Pleiades, the event had special meaning given her seven-year-old’s name – the ancient Greek name for the Matariki star constellation.
‘‘We’ve known about the cluster and wanted to know more as she carries the name, the tiny eyes of God,’’ Tarsh said.
She said her daughter had been learning about Matariki at her kura so to see the stars themselves was a special occasion.
‘‘I’m going to make it a yearly event,’’ she said. ‘‘I can’t believe it’s only a koha. What better way to spend your morning than looking at the stars.’’
Tarsh said she had attended other Matariki events in the past, but she believed the additional awareness generated by the first official public holiday was behind the swelling numbers this year.
‘‘The car park was full when we got there at 5.20am,’’ she said.
Tarsh said they had adopted a star close to the Matariki cluster, too, and her only disappointment was the fact a Matariki talk Friday night had already sold out.
Hamilton Observatory secretary David Platts said he was blown away with the numbers that attended. He expected around 30 people – hundreds turned up.
‘‘It was difficult to tell how many because it was dark, and the car park was full, but around 250 people.’’
He said 10 cars were waiting to get in before the event started at 5am. He said they got lucky with the weather.
‘‘A little bit misty, but it came really good. The weather was excellent this morning.’’
Platts also said the reaction from the visitors was excellent.
‘‘The feedback was very positive and people were excited to see it,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s the first time it was a holiday and the numbers reflected that. It was very much in people’s minds.’’
He said they were already thinking about how to expand next year’s event, with additional telescopes on the agenda.
Hamilton Astronomical Society member and one of the people manning the telescopes, David Bland, said he was also amazed at the turnout.
‘‘I thought we had close to 300,’’ he said. They got to see planets as well as the Matariki cluster.
‘‘We always get good reactions when people see the moon and the planets, but it was more a sense of occasion it being the holiday.’’
Bland also said next year they would have additional telescopes, and he said they would need to rethink crowd control.
‘‘Next year we are going to have to rethink how we do it,’’ he said.
‘‘A nice problem to have.’’