Starmap 01 January 2020

Southern Cross SE APUS MUSCA Chart Key CORONA AUSTRALIS SW Bright star Pointers TRIANGULUM AUSTRALE Faint star CRUX Mimosa ARA Ecliptic MOON PHASE Hadar Alpha Centauri Milky Way CIRCINUS First quarter 03rd P Planet Centre of the Galaxy NORMA Full Moon 11th LMC or Large Magellanic Cloud South Last quarter 17th CENTAURUS SMC or Small Magellanic Cloud SCORPIUS New Moon 25th THE CHART HIGHLIGHTS IN JANUARY 2020

This star chart shows the stars and constellations visible in theLUPUS The best time to view the Moon with a small night sky for Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Hobart in telescope or pair of binoculars is a few days either January at about 8:30pm (Daylight Savings Time), or 7:30pm side of its first quarter phase on the 3rd of January. (Local Standard Time) for Perth and Brisbane. For Darwin and Venus is in the westernAntares sky after sunset in the similar northerly locations, the chart will still apply, but some constellation of Capricornus (the Sea Goat). stars will be lost off the southern edge while extra stars will be Prominent in the sky this month, are the visible to the north. Stars down to a brightness or magnitude constellations of Canis Major (the Great Dog) which limit of 4.5 are shown on the star chart. To use this star chart, includes Sirius – the brightest star in the sky and rotate the chart so that the direction you are facing (north, Orion (the Hunter), which includes the recognisable south, east or west) is shown at the bottom. The centre of the southern hemisphere asterism of the “Saucepan”. chart represents the point directly above your head, called the Crux (the Southern Cross) is low in the south- zenith point, and the outer circular edge represents the eastern sky and can be located by looking for the horizon. two adjacent Pointer stars in the constellation of Centaurus (the Centaur). Sydney Observatory is part of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. The Sydney Observatory night sky map was created by Dr M. Anderson using the TheSky software. This month’s edition was prepared by Melissa Hulbert. © 2020 Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney.

The Southern Cross and how to find south

The Southern Cross can be seen to rotate around the south celestial pole. The picture below shows the position of the Southern Cross on the 15th of each month at 8pm EST. To locate the Southern Cross simply look south and note its position for the current month. The spacing between each month on the image also corresponds to 2 hours, so if you look on March 15 at 10 pm, the Cross will be found in the April position. If you look on September 15 at 6pm it will be in the August position.

Once you have located the Southern Cross it can be used to find true south. Simply extend the longer axis of the Southern Cross from top to bottom by 4.5 times its length and you will reach the south celestial pole. Then drop a line straight down to the ground to find south, and you’ll never get lost again!

May Jun

Jul Apr

Mar Aug South Celestial Pole

Feb Sep

South Jan Dec Nov Oct

Sydney Observatory Open 10:00 am – 5:00 pm every day except 1003 Upper Fort St, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve Millers Point NSW +61 2 9217 0111 https://maas.museum/sydney-observatory/