dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) (04/06/85)
From the more southerly parts of the Earth this month, you can see the Southern Cross. More -- after this. April 6: The Southern Cross If you live south of the continental United States, face south some evening this month -- and you might see the Southern Cross. Even if you can't see it, you might have heard of the Cross. It's the most famous constellation in the southern sky. Its fame stems from its beauty -- and its compact shape. Northern seamen used the Cross as a guide, when they first ventured into southern waters. From much of the southern hemisphere, this constellation appears circumpolar. That is, it can always be found SOMEWHERE in the southern sky -- it never sets below the horizon. The four brightest stars in the Southern Cross are Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta Crucis. These stars all have one thing in common -- they're all located very far away. When you gaze in the direction of the Cross, you're seeing light that has traveled two hundred, four hundred, and nearly six hundred years to reach us. Because they're distant and yet fairly bright, the stars of the Southern Cross are known to be intrinsically very luminous. Near the Cross is the constellation Centaurus -- with its two brightest stars Alpha and Beta Centauri. Alpha Centauri we already know as the nearest star to our sun. But these two stars have another reason for notoriety among southern star gazers -- a line through them points to the Southern Cross. By the way, people who can't see the Cross in the sky might see it closer to Earth. It's represented on the national flags of both Australia and New Zealand. Script by Deborah Byrd. (c) Copyright 1984, 1985 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin
gadfly@ihu1m.UUCP (Gadfly) (04/11/85)
-- > By the way, people who can't see the Cross in the sky might see it > closer to Earth. It's represented on the national flags of both > Australia and New Zealand. And Tonga. -- *** *** JE MAINTIENDRAI ***** ***** ****** ****** 11 Apr 85 [22 Germinal An CXCIII] ken perlow ***** ***** (312)979-7188 ** ** ** ** ..ihnp4!iwsl8!ken *** ***