Southern Cross

[Rob Tucker]

Has anyone seen the Southern Cross from the B.I.?

Over the years I have heard that at certain times of year one can see the Southern Cross low on the horizon from the Big Island. I've been down at the shore late night a few times but never saw it or it was the wrong time of year or it was cloudy.

Is it just a rumor?

[Andrew]

Punaweb to TomK please pick up the red courtesy phone.

[nana valley]

http://earthsky.org/tonight/southern-cro...re-sunrise[8D]

He who hoots with owls at night cannot soar with the eagles in the morning.

[kimo wires]

My Cousin used to live in Kona Highlands. One time when I stayed overnight there She pointed it out to me. They said they could see it pretty often from there.

[opihikao]

Mahalo, Nana valley! []

Andrew, LMAO! (Waiting patiently for Mr. TomK.)

Perhaps of interest: (*More at link - Incl. Diagram)

http://pvs.kcc.hawaii.edu/ike/hookele/ha...lines.html

The first of the pair to appear in the Hawaiian sky, a whitish green star, is called Nana-mua ..... The Western name for this constellation is the Southern Cross or Crux.

Source: Hokule'a - Nainoa Thompson

http://pvs.kcc.hawaii.edu/ike/hookele/on...nding.html

[Carey]

We have seen it often, but not at our house (too many trees to the south)

Best places that you can easily see it many nights are at Jagger & IFA Vistors Center on Mauna Kea

Imiloa has their wayfaring sky show & you can usually see the southern cross at apex, as it is as far up from the horizon of the ocean as it is tall (that is how you know that you are at the latitude of Hawaii using celestrial navigation (For most it is 2 or 3 fingers above the southern horizon)

ADD:Scroll down to medeian pairs in this star navigation link:
http://www.samlow.com/sail-nav/starnavigation.htm

And the imiloa link for the star lines used in navigation, with the second, Kaiwikuamo`o (the backbone) running from the north star to the southern cross:
http://imiloahawaii.org/72

[TomK]

You can see it but it's really low in the sky. This time of the year your best chance is just before midnight. Look south, the bottom of the southern cross (Acrux) is only about 8 degrees above the horizon, so it's tough. I've seen it from the mountain which is possibly the easiest place to see it here, otherwise you will certainly need an unobstructed view to the southern horizon.

[GregE]

Rob, check out the link below (put your cursor over the photo). The Southern Cross is in the lower right corner.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140412.html

The photo was taken on March 27th from Haleakala. Since we're slightly further south than Haleakala, The Southern Cross should appear slightly higher in the sky.

Hope you spot it. Happy stargazing.

Greg

[TomK]

What a stunning picture, Greg. Wally Pacholka's pictures of the night sky are simply mind-blowing, and he's taken a lot of them in Hawaii.

[Delta9r]

Awesome stuff, thanks for sharing.

I remember looking at the sky while out on boats, fishing at night, and noticed the symmetry of what apparently must have been "The Southern Cross," but for some reason I always thought that it was not visible from this latitude.

"Life is labor, and all that is good in life comes from that labor..."