Great Planetary Alignment at end of February

Stump up with binoculars, telescope, mobile phone app or bare eyes at month’s end (February 28) for a (hopefully) star-lit night to remember. 

That’s when all seven of the other planets in the Solar System will line up _ in a neat row, at the same time _ in the Great Planetary Alignment.

Saturn, Mercury, Neptune, Venus, Uranus, Jupiter and Mars will swing into line thanks to gravity in a “less-than-common” spectacle of light across Wairarapa’s dark skies.

Such seven planet alignments are the rarest events, since it’s not uncommon for a few of our Solar System companions to inhabit the same side of the Sun at the same time with anything from three to six of the other planets lined up.

But seven-planet alignments are “the rarest of all” such celestial stack-ups.  

Six of the seven (not Mercury) earlier displayed themselves in a 21 January 2025 line-up.

Among the tools available to view the late Feburary event are Stellarium and Sky Tonight  _ the  latter a mobile phone app which shows where you are located and the real-time positions of heavenly objects on a map of the sky above.

Haami Te Whaiti awarded for lifetime contribution

Haami Te Whaiti (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa, Ngāi Tahu, Rangitāne) has been awarded the Ngā Tohu ā Tā Kingi Ihaka | Sir Kingi Ihaka Award recognising a lifetime contribution in Creative New Zealand’s The Ngā Taonga Toi a Te Waka Toi Awards 2024. 

Haami was born in Martinborough, grew up on a farm near Mangakino and became a member of Ngā Tamatoa at Waikato University.  For more than 40 years he has worked alongside kaumātua, kuia and whānau to support the kaupapa of Ngati Hinewaka. 

Haami’s work has helped to see the return of waahi tapu land at Mātakitaki-a-Kupe after 100 years of dispossession. He supported the reconstruction of Mākōtukutuku wharepuni at Te Papa and has curated exhibitions at Aratoi. 

More recently, he has been a negotiator settling Iwi claims. 

Haami Te Whaiti is Aratoi’s Kaihautu and Curator Māori. 

The Te Waka Toi Awards, which are in their 38th year, celebrate the development, artistry and ongoing life of toi Māori.

How well do we know people in our community?

By Bruce Congalton

Becs Mackie is bubbling over with wonderful ideas for her Ventana Creative Workshops when we

meet in her bright, high-ceilinged studio at 7 Kitchener Street. It’s obvious that she has a very

creative mind and the walls show off her artistic talent. But she’s never formally studied art.

“I’ve never been to art school but was interested in art from a very early age. I was always wanting

to make things when I was young,” she said. “When I was ten or eleven a friend of mine lived next door to a woman who was an incredible oil painter. I showed interest in her work and she offered to teach us.

“I remember bringing home my first painting which was of two hibiscus flowers and my parents were blown away by it.” … Continue Reading

Introduced predators decimate coastal and forest birds, wildlife

By Joe Howells

My journey into conservation has been a short one, prompted by a lifelong love for our wild South Wairarapa coastline and our native forest remnants, _and having more time on my hands as I move into semi-retirement. 

Clive Paton got me involved in the Aorangi Restoration Trust, and the Trust wanted a predator trapline put in place from the Kawakawa River to the Mangatoetoe River along the road. That would be easy enough for the Martinborough Lions to service, I thought. Dave Knowles and I laid out some 40 traps along this stretch of coast in the summer of 2021. … Continue Reading