This blog is as much a reminder to myself as it is to you, the reader. With most people in the Southern Hemisphere welcoming spring on the 1st of September or Spring Day, I thought of the change in celestial constellations visible during each season. Since in actual fact, according to nature’s calendar at least, the beginning of spring is right towards the end of September on the 22nd – I will write a blog on the Stars and constellations of spring then.

There is always something great about the combination of fire, stars and a long-exposure photograph.

But for now, I wanted to reacquaint myself with what stargazing has to offer, specifically in the Southern Hemisphere. Unobstructed by bright city lights or pollution, the stars shine even brighter than usual in the African bush, revealing their full splendour. We deeply value connection with the natural world here at Londolozi, and stargazing is one of the best ways to do so. Gazing up at the night sky, you can’t help but feel connected with the vastness of the universe and the surrounding nature.

The night sky in the African bush is one of the main attractions for guests from all over the world. To a large extent, the views of stars and planets are unaltered by light pollution evident in big cities

“Look up to the stars and not down at your feet. Try make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist…”  – Stephan Hawking

The southern sky is disorientating, surprising, and utterly transfixing. Here you can see arguably some of the greatest celestial sights: the nearest stars to our solar system, two close dwarf galaxies, and some drop-dead gorgeous clusters (even with the naked eye).

Upside-down

The first thing you’ll notice after dusk south of the equator is that the northern constellations appear upside down. The North Star, Polaris, isn’t visible and the circumpolar northern constellations, such as the Big Dipper are seasonal. The Summer Triangle becomes the Winter Triangle down south, Orion’s sword points up toward Rigel, while the brightest star, Sirius, is overhead. This may cause some neck twisting to adjust your eyes.

The Nearest Star System

The third brightest star in the night sky, Alpha Centauri is just 4.37 light-years away. It’s more than one star — Alpha Centauri A, a Sun-like star, and its companion, the slightly less massive Alpha Centauri B, actually form a triple with Proxima Centauri (technically the nearest at just 4.22 light-years). All three stars appear as a single point to the naked eye. Being circumpolar, Alpha Centauri, and the entire constellation of Centauri for that matter is visible year-round south of the equator, but it’s at its highest from March to September. These two ‘stars’ Alpha and Beta Centauri are also known as the ‘Pointers’ to the Southern Cross or Crux, which is found between the legs of the Centaur.

Finding the Southern Cross

Linked closely to Alpha Centauri is the Southern Cross, used to tell celestial south (ask your guide how!)

The Southern Cross constellation is centred in Crux within a bright portion of the Milky Way. It is among the most easily distinguished constellations as its hallmark stars each have an extremely bright visual magnitude. The word “Crux” is Latin for cross, this being used to characterise the domination of the cross-shaped cluster of stars within the Crux – the Southern Cross.

Ancient astrology of the Khoikhoi viewed the two pointer stars in the Southern Cross as male lions; who were once men, but a magical girl turned them into stars. The three brightest stars of the Southern Cross they saw to be female lions.

The Southern Cross is said to be rediscovered by Europeans in the Age of Discovery, in the period from the early 15th century to the early 17th century. Portuguese sailors mapped Crux for navigation while sailing near the southern tip of Africa. In more recent years, the Southern Cross can be used to find the location of the Southern Celestial Pole, which has been used by navigators for centuries.

A Naked-eye Globular Cluster

One can’t quite put into words the humbling sense of seeing a 13 billion-year-old globular cluster (a conglomeration of stars bound together by gravity) with zero equipment. Most easily seen from April through September, Omega Centauri contains 10 million stars and possibly even a black hole at its centre. It’s the most massive and most luminous globular cluster visible from anywhere on the planet. Because of its distinct properties, astronomers think it might be the nucleus of a dwarf galaxy that long ago collided with the Milky Way. Found deep in the constellation of Centaurus, Omega Centauri looks like a blob almost as large as the full Moon in dark skies

If you make it to clear, dark skies and let your eyes adjust, the sight of two unexpected clouds might surprise you. Many astronomers travel specifically to see the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds, the largest dwarf galaxies in the Milky Way. Essentially a massive star nursery, much like the Orion Nebula, but on an entirely different scale.

Here you can see both the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds on the right-hand side of the image.

Taking a moment to stop, gaze up and admire is only magnified by the thousands of stars gazing back at you. Sit in the silence, delve deeper into it and cast your mind away. Trying to wrap your head around the various names, distances and orientations is not the point, but if this blog helped somewhat to orientate yourself in the Southern skies, stay tuned for my next blog on the Spring night skies.