Comment: We live in a world increasingly designed to capture, fragment, and monetise our attention. Media outlets compete relentlessly for views. Phones buzz in pockets with alerts, messages, and meeting reminders. And AI delivers a mix of existential dread and fear of missing out.
On top of this, we live in a time of geopolitical and climatic instability. Many of us feel simultaneously more connected and more distracted than ever.
In these volatile times, Matariki offers an opportunity to slow down, to look up, to reconnect with others, and to remember who came before us. It is a time to regain perspective on what matters in life.
The rise of Matariki
Our public holiday on July 10 originates from the mātauranga Māori practice of using celestial observation to mark the new year. Matariki heralds the middle of winter and signals the hardest, darkest part of the year is over. After Matariki, the days start getting longer and warmer and we can look forward to easier times.
Matariki season starts when nine stars in the Matariki cluster become visible over the eastern horizon as they rise just ahead of the sun. The season spans the weeks from about the end of May to early July. The exact dates vary each year according to the maramataka lunar calendar and are linked to the Tangaroa lunar phase. In 2026, this phase occurs from July 8 to 11.
Matariki is a time to take stock of our natural resources and the climate experienced the preceding year, and to plan for the coming one.
We do this by acknowledging the stars associated with kai from the earth and sky (Tupuānuku and Tupuārangi), fresh and saltwater resources (Waitī and Waitā), and climatic conditions or rain and wind (Waipuna-ā-rangi and Ururangi). We remember those who have passed when we look up at Pōhutukawa and make a wish for the new year on Hiwa-i-te-rangi.
Matariki is the mother of these stars and represents health and wellbeing. To honour her, we use this time to pause and reflect, to see where we have come from and where we are going.
Awe, psychology, and the night sky
Across time and cultures, people have looked to the night sky with awe, a state of mind we experience in the presence of vastness. Awe fosters feelings of connectedness and self-diminishment, and a shift in our understanding of the world.
It also alters our sense of time, expanding the present moment and reducing our rumination on the past and our worries for the future. Experiences of awe, whether found in nature, music, movement, spirituality, or the night sky, shift our focus away from immediate concerns and towards something larger than ourselves.
Contemporary research highlights the restorative power of awe and its health and wellbeing benefits.
Although we are sometimes suddenly struck by awe, we can also cultivate it. Recent clinical trials suggest people who are taught to find awe in their lives experience reductions in depression and increased wellbeing.
In our lab-based research, we show that five minutes in a VR simulation of the night sky creates feelings of awe and helps people recover from stress. Stargazing and night-sky photography are being shown as ways to slow down, pay closer attention, and cultivate awe.
Matariki is particularly powerful because it brings many of these ideas to the fore.
Light pollution and dark sky stewardship
Unfortunately, light pollution means not everyone will have a clear view of the Matariki star cluster.
Light pollution in Aotearoa New Zealand is increasing at a faster rate than the global average. Estimates indicate about 97 percent of the population lives under skies affected by light pollution, restricting our ability to experience the night sky.
There are also wider environmental effects. For our unique nocturnal animals, darkness is a critical resource. Long-tailed bats, for example, must delay coming out to feed by up to two hours if lights are on.
For a puriri moth, six years as a juvenile lead to just 48 hours as an adult. In those 48 hours, a moth must find a mate and reproduce. If a dazzling billboard distracts it from this task, six years of preparation ends without the next generation.
Astronomers and stargazers are increasingly concerned about light pollution from above as well as below. With growing numbers of satellites, stars in the night sky may become overwhelmed by satellite mega-constellations. If future generations lose direct access to the stars altogether, what might we lose with it?
If awe, connection, and perspective matter, then dark skies are not simply an astronomical resource: they are an essential cultural, ecological, and human one.
What will you see this Matariki?
The Matariki star cluster rises just before dawn, about 4.30am. To find it, look low in the eastern to north-eastern sky shortly before dawn, ideally from somewhere with a clear, dark horizon. Mars will rise about 5am. Both Matariki and Mars will be visible until the sun’s light peeks over the horizon at about 6am.
Handheld binoculars are great to enhance your view of the sky even without a telescope. You can use a phone app such as Stellarium to help locate stars. Or check out your local astronomical society, which will likely be holding public viewing sessions.
Although Matariki can be difficult to see from most urban areas because of light pollution, there are plenty of other beautiful night sky objects to enjoy earlier in the night.
The sun sets shortly after 5pm on the Matariki holiday and the sky will be fully dark from about 6.45pm. You’ll be able to see Venus on the north-western horizon for a few hours after sunset. If you’re keen to stay up later, Saturn will be visible after midnight.
Look out for the Milky Way, arching high across the sky at this time of year. In urban areas, you may see it as a scattering of stars containing the Southern Cross—Māhutonga.
In a dark area such as Wellington’s south coast or dark sky reserves such as Aoraki Mackenzie and Wairarapa, you’ll see a glorious “milky” sweep of stars contrasting with dark areas blocked by dust (can you spot the Galactic Kiwi?).
The Dark Sky Network has a comprehensive list of dark sky areas around the country. Find one near you and check out the difference compared with your usual urban environment.
Look up to slow down
We believe there is value in stepping beyond the noise of everyday life and reconnecting with something vast and unknowable.
This Matariki, we do not suggest you need to look up to escape the world, to run away from what is happening around you, but we encourage you to find a way to pay attention and see the world more clearly.
Treasure your view of the stars today. Fight for your right to continue seeing them in the future. Put the phone away, step outside, and just look up.
Chris McKeown is a photographer and writer who explores how to find awe through night-sky photography
Yvette Perrott is a senior lecturer in the School of Chemical and Physical Sciences at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington
Simon McCallum is a senior lecturer in Software Engineering at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington
Bridgette Farnworth is a lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington
Gina Grimshaw is a professor in the School of Psychological Sciences at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington
Matt Crawford is an associate professor in the School of Psychological Sciences at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington
Sara Belcher is a senior lecturer in the School of Science in Society at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington
Kartik Nagarajan works in the Research Office at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington
