What is the Southern Cross in navigation?
The sky’s south pole has no such bright star. But, if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, you can indeed use the Southern Cross – also known as the constellation Crux – to find celestial south. Then you can draw a line downward from celestial south to find the direction due south.
How can you use the Southern Cross constellation to help you navigate?
Follow these steps to find due south using the Southern Cross:
- Draw a line from the star at the top of the Southern Cross, called Gacrux, to the star at the bottom of the cross, called Acrux.
- Extend this line approximately 4.5 times the distance between Gacrux and Acrux to locate the south celestial pole.
What is the meaning of the Southern Cross?
: four bright stars in the southern hemisphere that are situated as if at the extremities of a Latin cross also : the constellation of which these four stars are the brightest.
How does Southern Cross Point south?
Where that line meets the line formed by the two most widely separated stars in the Southern Cross is the south point in the sky (the South Celestial Pole). From the Pole drop a line straight down to the horizon – that is south.
What does the Southern Cross represent in the Australian flag?
The stars of the Southern Cross represent our geographical position in the Southern Hemisphere, the Commonwealth Star symbolises our federation of States and Territories, and the Crosses stand for the principles on which our nation is based – namely, Parliamentary Democracy, Rule of the Law and Freedom of Speech.
How do we use constellations to navigate?
In fact finding direction using the stars is much quicker and easier than using a compass. It is also a lot more fun. To navigate using the stars all we need do is find a star that is directly above the place we want to get to and it will point exactly the right direction for us, from quarter of the globe away.
What does Southern Cross tattoo mean?
Originally, the Southern Cross was just a star constellation, predominantly composed of stars in the Scorpius–Centaurus Association. It’s mostly visible in the Southern Hemisphere, where it helped Europe’s early sailors to navigate the oceans and came to be associated with a particular style of colonial patriotism.
Why is the Southern Cross in the Australian flag?
Does the Southern Cross rotate?
The Southern Cross not only spins around the southern sky once a year, it also does a complete circle each 24 hours.