Tuesday 5 March 2013

Starlight Adventure












I have strayed to the other hemisphere, learnt a bit about the stars (and how to add a copyright sign to my work).  Can you see the Southern Cross?

These are not my home waters but the New Zealanders might recognise the Poor Knights, the Pinnacles and the Sugarloaf.

The Southern Cross looks like a sideways kite with two pointer stars as it's tail. The biggest and brightest is Acrux, the next brightest is Mimosa, and the only other one I can name is Gacrux (on the left of the kite).  A line from Gacrux through Acrux should intersect with the horizon in the direction of the South Pole.  Jolly handy to know if you don't know where you are.

There you go, celestial navigation in a teacup!

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