The sky at night

11 March 2014

Update by Maarten:
“On the bridge we have Patrick Moore’s star guide, which is useful, as stargazing is a good way to pass the night in between duty on the helm and the management of sails. Patrick Moore was the star of a popular BBC programme that brought knowledge of the sky at night to millions of people.  He was also a grumpy old man with a sense of humour, which makes the guide fun to read given also the fact that our happy ship has its fair complement of grumpy old men. It takes one to know one. Sailing in the southern hemisphere, heading towards the equator is pretty special because you see stars you have never seen before and the star signs you do know are all topsy turvy. The three watches, red, white and blue, have now completed three rotations so that we all have had a chance to study the night sky from sundown to sun-up. We are carrying the sun up north with us by the way, it was late summer in Ushuaia when we left, with long days, which have become shorter as we approach the equator and equinox. With a bit of luck we will pass the equator on the day the sun is right above it.
We all dabble a bit into the art of star gazing (Eline is now a master at spotting Castor and Pollux in Gemini), by now we all know to spot the Southern Cross and its keepers Alpha and Beta Centauri, slowly sinking away night by night in the southern sky. However we in the red watch are self-proclaimed masters.  Alexander and I have compiled the following list why the night sky in our opinion is very special. It admittedly has much to do with the fact that we are now quite close to the equator.
1) All the fifteen brightest stars as listed by Patrick are visible. The feast every twilight starts with Sirius (Canis Major), which is then right above us, to which can be added in minutes Canopus (Carina), Rigel (Orion) and Procyon (Canis Minor), all high in the sky. However, also on this list are stars we do not normally see such as Mimosa (Southern Cross), Agena (also known as Beta Centauri) and Achernar (Eridanus). Towards dawn we have Arcturus, Vega and Altair. Capella in Auriga enchants us all by shining with all the colours of the rainbow.
2) Even before Sirius is visible, we can see the planet Jupiter, which presently is in Gemini, later to be followed by Mars in Virgo and Saturn in Libra, as if they are all hitchhiking in the Zodiac. Far brighter than all except the waxing moon (we hope to have a full one by the end of the week, the absence of any light pollution means we can see the stars and planets anyway in the clear sky) is Venus, which rises in the east a few hours before sun-up, followed by Mercury. Thus, all the planets closest to us are visible.
3) The southern sky does not have an obvious fixed point as the northern sky does in Polaris. With everything rotating (yes, still clockwise), bearings are easily lost.
4) We northerners are of course sure that the most beautiful star sign is Orion and we do enjoy him and his entourage at the start of every evening, but it has to be said that Scorpius, which takes his place high in the sky towards morning, eclipses him. As Patrick teaches us, this is only right because after all Scorpius bit Orion and caused his untimely death.”