International Observe the Moon Night
Kia ora Tāmaki Makaurau. Saturday is International Observe the Moon Night and to mark the occasion, a historic telescope used during some of the first human missions to the moon will be open to the public at Auckland's Stardome Observatory and Planetarium (670 Manukau Road, Epsom).
The EWB Zeiss telescope was used to manually track Apollo missions when Houston didn't have radio contact with its spacecraft and astronauts.
The public are invited to use the telescope to view the moon on Saturday until 10.30pm at the stardome at 670 Manukau Road, Epsom.
“It will be five days after the new moon, so looking up from the Southern Hemisphere, we will easily be able locate the various maria, or seas, on the eastern half of the near-side of the moon. These are the Sea of Serenity, Sea of Tranquillity, Sea of Crises, Sea of Fecundity, and Sea of Nectar,” Stardome telescope operator Daley Panthagani said.
Entry costs $2 per adult and $1 per child. The Stardome will also be putting on educational shows about the moon for additional fees. For more info visit www.stardome.org.nz...
Christmas Eve busiest shopping day of the year with more than 500,000 sales
Busiest shopping day of the year
Peak time 12 noon-1 pm - 563,303 transactions
Per second peak - 167 transactions
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Number of sales beats Black Friday, but lowest Christmas Eve in six years
Christmas Eve has been the busiest shopping day of the year with 9,745 sales a minute at its peak.
Payments company Worldline says noon to 1pm saw 563,303 sales recorded on its network, down by about 7 percent on a year ago.
The company's network covers about three-quarters of the electronic terminals in operation.
Worldline did not have a dollar value for spending, but the peak number of transactions was the lowest for the past six years and well shy of the record 679,436 in 2019, before the pandemic.
Earlier this month it noted rising sales in the first three weeks of the month, but they remained 1.3 percent lower than 2024, with most parts of the country trailing the previous year's spending.
Official data from Stats NZ to the end of November showed a small rise in spending on the previous month, to 1.6 percent higher for the year.
Retail spending has been subdued as households have remained cautious because of high prices and a slow benefit from lower interest rates, and as well as concerns about the soft labour market.
However, recent surveys have shown improving consumer sentiment with ANZ bank's monthly report showing confidence at its highest level in four years.
Boxing Day is traditionally the country's favourite shopping day, but with Black Friday spending also softer this year the amount going through retailers' terminals may also be down on a year ago.
Adding a dampener to consumer spending may be the recent rises in longer term fixed mortgage rates because of higher wholesale rates.
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Poll: Is it ok to regift something that you have been given?
🎁 Holiday Gift Chat!
Do you ever regift?
What’s your take on asking for a receipt if a gift doesn’t fit?
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79.1% Yes! It's better to regift what I don't need
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20.9% No. It's the thought and effort that matters
Scam Alert: Fake information regarding December Bonuses from MSD
The Ministry of Social Development is reporting that fake information is circulating about new ‘December bonuses’ or ‘benefit increases’
If you get suspicious communication, please contact Netsafe.
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