APOD: A Sky Portal in New Zealand (2014 Jul 29)

[APOD Robot]

A Sky Portal in New Zealand

Explanation: To some, it may look like a portal into the distant universe. To others, it may appear as the eye of a giant. Given poetic license, both are correct. Pictured above is a standard fisheye view of the sky -- but with an unusual projection. The view is from a perch in New Zealand called Te Mata Peak, a name that translates from the Maori language as "Sleeping Giant". The wondrous panorama shows the band of our Milky Way Galaxy right down the center of the sky, with the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds visible to the right. The red hue is atmospheric airglow that surprised the photographer as it was better captured by the camera than the eye. The above image was taken two weeks ago as the photographer's sister, on the left, and an acquaintance peered into the sky portal.

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[lotr]

One ring to bind them?

[rstevenson]

Looks a bit like a view from inside an O'Neill cylinder.

Rob

[tomatoherd]

This view really shows that that faint band across our sky really IS a galaxy, central bulge and all. The Milky Way. Home. Beautiful.

[OldSalt1945]

I often wish NASA or the photographers would provide technical details (film speed, exposure time, etc.) for these pictures. It appears that the exposure time for this photo is quite short, but the film speed (or digital equivalent) must be very high to capture the sky glow.

[Chris Peterson]

I often wish NASA or the photographers would provide technical details (film speed, exposure time, etc.) for these pictures. It appears that the exposure time for this photo is quite short, but the film speed (or digital equivalent) must be very high to capture the sky glow.

While I wish that providing this information was mandatory for any image accepted as an APOD, in fact it is frequently provided if you follow the link to the original image. In this case, the photographer's site gives:

Used Canon 6D, Sigma 15 mm, f2.8, ISO 8000, 11×30 s panorama, tripod.

So we have a fisheye image constructed from eleven 30-second exposures made with a borderline fisheye lens.

[FloridaMike]

This view really shows that that faint band across our sky really IS a galaxy, central bulge and all. The Milky Way. Home. Beautiful.

What difference! a change in perspective can make.

[julianm]

One ring to bind them?

Where else to find Sauron, but New Zealand...

[DavidLeodis]

According to the explanation the image "was taken two weeks ago" but in the information brought up through the "above image" link it states the image was taken on "17th June 2014".

[Bric]

Actually Te Mata doesn't mean "The Giant." It means "The Face", the name of the legendary Maori giant.

[neufer]

Actually Te Mata doesn't mean "The Giant." It means "The Face", the name of the legendary Maori giant.

Te Mata does translate from the Maori language as "the eye" or "the face":

MATA: (anatomy) eye (organ) [Maori]

From Proto-Polynesian *mata, from Proto-Oceanic *mata, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *mata, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *mata, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *mata, from Proto-Austronesian *maCa.

However, the proper name Te Mata is short for either:

• 1) Te Matau a Maui: Maui’s fishhook or
  2) the name Te Mata o Rongokako: the sleeping giant.

Te Mata - A Myth or a Con?

<<The mythical story of Te Mata o Rongokako, the sleeping giant’: is well known and told widely to people visiting Hawke's Bay. Te Mata Peak is the most recognisable geographical featurein Hawke’s Bay. From the peak you have panoramic views that stretch from the ranges in the west to the majestic sweep of Te Matau a Maui, Maui’s fishhook.

We have a convenient skyline profile that looks like a 'sleeping giant'; we have a legend about a giant of a man who has an ill fated relationship with a daughter of a chief and we have another legend about an actual giant Rongokako who walked past along the coast at some point.

The 'con' is the joining of coinciding stories to make a better one. The sad part about all of this is that it now becomes part of our history and is perpetuated to visitors, cast in bronze and even taken up by some of our own Maori people.>>