2. Hetu'u means not only the sun but also 'star' and the names of the months once were chosen from the names of prominent early morning stars which shone before sunlight arrived:

"As the earth makes its annual revolution of the Sun the observer sees new constellations rising in the east after sundown from week to week, while others disappear in the west and are lost in the rays of the Sun. In the northern hemisphere we are accustomed to associate Canis Major and Orion with winter and Scorpius and Sagittarius with summer because these groups of stars dominate the evening sky in their respective seasons.

The Polynesians, on the other hand, made their observations in the early morning twilight. To the Maori Sirius in Canis Major was therefore a star of July and a harbinger of frost and cold weather in their southern latitude, so that the name Takurua became synonymous with winter.

Antares in Scorpius was first seen by New Zealanders before dawn in November - December and was considered the herald of summer heat, the star which ripened fruit and enervated man.

The morning star was said to rule the month during which it rose before sunrise ..." (Makemson)

The 'sun fish' glyphs in Large Washington Tablet could refer to the morning star which ruled the month in question.

Around a solstice even the stars appear to stand still. It is the movement of earth around the sun (together with the rounded surface of the earth) which at those times makes the sky roof appear to stand still relative to the marks on the horizon. Comparing one morning's observations with the next it is obvious that the pendulum of the sky roof slows down to a standstill and then returns.