Stargazing wasn't the purpose of the trip, but neither was I going to pass up seeing the southern sky for the first time. Darkness came early on this late fall evening in New Zealand, and it had been a very long day of travel and meetings. My hosts kept me busy chatting with folks, socializing and even driving in the dark on the other side of the road to their house. Once my bags were inside, I stole a few minutes to enjoy the other side of the sky.

From the darkness of Ohaupo, the Southern Milky Way was spectacular! The xeroxed charts I'd brought didn't hint at the brilliance of the stars and sweeping arch of light across the south. There was no mistaking the Southern Cross and the Coalsack nestled next to it. The brightest part of the Milky Way was just to the west, in the Eta Carinae region. Further to the right was the False Cross, part of the constellations of Vela and Carina, as well as Canopus, the second brightest star. Below, our two neighboring galaxies: the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. Higher up, Omega Centauri was clearly not a star-like point of light. The "pointers" of Alpha and Beta Centauri followed along from the east. Rather than the low crawl that I'm used to, Scorpius was in a very un-scorpion like pose, standing straight up above the eastern horizon

Although I had to be satisfied with naked-eye views, it was almost as much fun to turn around and look northward.  No doubt I was far below the equator: the sky was up side down and half of it wasn’t even there! To my left, Orion was tumbling head-first downstairs to the western horizon. The Big Dog was performing a trick, standing on his nose, the brightest star Sirius. Overhead, Leo was inverted, and the galaxies of Virgo were spilling down towards Coma. And no Big Dipper: it scarcely rises above the horizon here.

Left: M83 in Hydra from my backyard. This image is somewhat compromised by low altitude--no higher than 21°--of the most southerly of Messier's galaxies. The views should be far better from down under where this galaxy passes nearly overhead on fall evenings.

But I can see all that from Delaware. And only four clear nights weren't nearly enough exploring the Southern Sky. Here is the brightest nebula, the brightest globular clusters, the nearest stars next to the Sun, and five open clusters in a single binocular view. Next time: a telescope!

As a souvenir of my trip in May, I brought back a Southern Hemisphere star wheel. It will come in handy too: for the next year my family and I will reside at 37° 46' South, 175° 18' East in Hamilton, New Zealand. While away, I'd love to here from the folks up here: you can still e-mail me through the local address of dmiller@udel.edu.

Right: A southern sundial at local noon, about 16 hours before noon here. I was cautioned to think before guessing at directions: the sun arcs across the northern part of the sky. But the difference in daylength was perhaps the biggest surprise for me. From long, late spring days, I was thrown off by the late sunrise and early sunsets of late fall. Seasons are opposite those here, though we of course see the same stars on any given night, allowing for the change in latitude.
Moondark is written by Doug Miller and published on the web, in the Delmarva Star Gazers'Star Gazer News and in the Delaware Astronomical Society's FOCUS. Please address comments and suggestions to dmiller@udel.edu. This document was last revised on 22 August '99. All text and images copyright © 1999 Douglas C. Miller, All Rights Reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without prior permission.