But why is it all Upside-Down?Stargazers, many of you may know some of our northern hemisphere star patterns like the Plough and Cassiopeia, but how many of you have seen any southern hemisphere constellations which are familiar to people living in southern Africa, Australia, New Zealand or Argentina? I certainly hadn't. However, on a trip to Botswana in December 1998 for the BBC World Service youth programme, Megamix, I did indeed I anticipated my first clear southern night as one would wait excitedly for Santa on Christmas Eve. Dusk seemed to fall incredibly slowly, but it was worth it! The skies glistened as I gazed around this first night... Wow! I was also absolutely 'LOST': where had these southern hemispherians put all my friendly constellations? I felt dazed by the unknown collections of stars. I finally realised there were a few I knew, but they were Upside-Down! This is purely to do with my changed location on the Earth. Take for example the familiar winter constellation of Orion, the hunter. Here in the northern hemisphere he rises to a standing position, but in Botswana he appears to cartwheel across the sky on his head! A very strange appearance if you're not used to it. The most famous southern hemisphere constellation, and one never visible from Britain, is the Southern Cross. It's such a famous little pattern it appears in the flags of Australia and New Zealand...  Australia
And yes, there they were - the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. These ovally misty cloud-like patches are two of the closest galaxies to our own. The Large Magellanic Cloud sits mainly in the constellation of Dorado (the Swordfish), while the Small Magellanic Cloud hangs about in Tucana (the Toucan). They were named the Magellanic Clouds after the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan who was the first to describe them (in 1519). If I saw nothing else I could still return north a happy chappy. There was plenty of local sky folklore as well. It's not surprising to learn that the local culture and the environment affected the naming of stars. In South Africa the Southern Cross Why not try making up some star constellations for yourself? If you want see how the southern constellations look tonight then visit: Sky & Telescope's Southern Sights Page, and don't forget to look for the Southern Cross. Happy Stargazing! |
have the opportunity of finding out about the southern night sky - something I had always wanted to see. Living in Britain, you see, means many of the great heavenly splendours are always below the horizon.
together with two very bright nearby stars, officially called Alpha and Beta Centauri, form a constellation known as 'The Giraffes'. In Botswana Alpha and Beta Centauri on their own are the Two Lions, while two other stars Belelgeuse, in Orion, and Aldebaran, in Taurus the Bull, are a Male and Female Gnu! All these animals roam around the countryside of Botswana and so they found themselves woven into stories of the skies. These local star patterns, the Giraffes, Lions and Gnus, are not 'official' constellations used by astronomers, so you won't find them on any star map bought in the shops. It's just interesting to know that many cultures around the world have different names for stars and constellations than the ones we know. Take a look at