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In the night sky, next to the Orion nebula, there will be a blurry patch or constellation of stars called the Pleiades or the Seven Sisters. It is a cluster of very hot, very new blue white stars. The Maori name of Pleiades is Matariki.
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In the night sky, next to the Orion nebula, there will be a blurry patch or constellation of stars called the Pleiades or the Seven Sisters
It is a cluster of very hot, very new blue white stars. The Maori name of Pleiades is Matariki.
When this constellation rises in the eastern sky before dawn in early June, it heralds the beginning of the Maori new year, about two weeks later, at winter solstice.
To many Maori people, Matariki was also the bow of a great waka or canoe. The canoe’s high stern is Orion’s belt or sword. From here, a long rope of stars actually reaches the sky to the anchor of the Southern Cross.
There are several different kinds of stars in the sky. Some are very big. A couple of stars have been found that are 100 to 200 times larger than the sun. Some very old stars are smaller than the Earth.