The South Celestial Pole

Pole star or Polaris; no we do not have a pole star in the Southern Hemisphere. To most, it’s not all that important, but I like to use it to find out where south is at night or to line up star trail pics.

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Draw a line through the long beam of the cross and continue the line below the cross until meets a line which emanates from between Alpha and Beta Centauri perpendicularly.

Orion in the Southern Hemisphere

Summer is special time for stargazing in the south. Firstly, it’s warm outside but most importantly we have Orion and the Seven Sisters to wonder at. We don’t call it Orion, however, but the Saucepan or the Pot. Check it out.The Pot is to the right of the tree; the Seven Sisters or Pleiades to the left.