Amateur astronomy is alive and well in New Zealand. There are two dozen regional societies organized under the national Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand. Not too bad for a country of less than 4 million inhabitants! I've been affiliated with the Hamilton Astronomical Society for six months now, and here is some of what I've learned so far.

Located in the Waikato region of the North Island, the Hamilton Astronomical Society is headquartered on a beautiful ridge on the western side of town. This site is adjacent to the Hilldale Zoo, explaining some of the very unusual night noises heard from the carpark observing area. The dome houses a 61-cm Cassegrain telescope with a new drive system as well as the electronics, receivers and fiber optic link to the nearby radio telescope dish. Portable telescopes include the usual assortment of Schmidt-Cassegrains and Dobsonians of 20 - 40 cm in aperture.

Society nights are the first Monday of the month and include a featured presentation, discussion of current events, club activities, committee reports, and of course, tea and biscuits. A less formal club night featuring observing follows on the middle Friday of the month. The observatory includes a sizable meeting room, kitchen, computer and desks, plus a modest library. Public nights are held twice monthly, and school groups from Hamilton and the greater Waikato area often book observing nights as part of the school curriculum.

From what I can tell, these activities and accomplishments are representative of other societies around the country. The Auckland Astronomical Society is the country's largest with over 400 members and is associated with the Auckland Observatory and StarDome Planetarium. The society sponsors "Black Sky" weekends to enjoy viewing free from interference of city lights. In addition to weekly club nights, public shows and educational programs, the observatory publishes the highly useful New Zealand Astronomical Yearbook, with a gallery of beautiful color pictures, news highlights and events, charts and timetables, society contacts and other valuable information.

Regarding books, we are fortunate that the Hamilton Public Library has an extensive collection. The vast majority is the same, familiar books available in the States, but there is a handful of books for southern skies in particular. It seems that Patrick Moore has written most of them, though I can recommend his Stars of the Southern Skies and it's quirky companion star chart.  But don't leave home (as I did) without your Bright Star Atlas. And it seems that Willmann-Bell's books are valuable just about everywhere. A good, all-around book on astronomy in New Zealand, both amateur and professional, is Godzone Skies by Vicki Hyde.

While there is no monthly glossy magazine, Australian and British publications appear on the newsstands. Astronomy and Sky & Telescope are both commonly available for purchase (a bit pricey though at NZ$15 per issue!) and in the libraries. Reflecting their subscriber base, these serials are northern-hemisphere biased. Messier marathons are not a popular activity here, though, in fairness,  they do publish southern skymaps. I must admit that it seems to me that the telescopes and gadgets advertised are awfully expensive, especially given the current exchange rates. And I was surprised by how little the hardware had changed in six months.

The skies here above a city of 100,000 aren't too bad really, though this simply reflects fewer people and less conventional pollution rather than any overt concern about light pollution. Daytime skies are frequently a deep blue surprisingly close to the Sun. Even at sea level, the sunlight has the intensity and quality that I associate with that in the mountains in New Mexico. So if you come, be sure to bring heavy-duty sunblock. Unfortunately on other days (and nights), New Zealand seem to live up to its Maori name, Aotearoa, Land of the Long White Cloud. The up-side is that we see some fantastic rainbows here.

So overall the amateur scene down here isn't terribly different from that in the States, with monthly meetings, educational outreach, socials and star parties being the main club activities. The keenest of the bunch are, as usual, off on their own projects, be it variable star observing, CCD-ing, asteroid hunting or double stars. Amateurs here take a back seat to no one, up on the latest news and technology, using the Internet for communication both among societies and overseas. Why not check us out on the web via: www.astronomy.org.nz?

Doug enjoys the perfectly usable skies on the edge of Hamilton at 37° 46' South and 175° 18' East in the +12 h time zone. Moondark is written by Doug Miller and published on the web, in the Delmarva Star Gazers'Star Gazer News and in the Delaware Astronomical Society's FOCUS. Please address comments and suggestions to dmiller@udel.edu. This document was last revised on 22 February '00. All text and images copyright © 2000 Douglas C. Miller, All Rights Reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without prior permission.