Finally Got to See the Southern Cross in the Nighttime Sky

Back in the spring of 1964, when I was seven, my father presented to me a star map he had saved from his tattered old boy scout manual as well as the more recent Herbert S. Zim Golden Guide to the Stars...we went outside after sunset and picked out the visible stars and constellations.  Ever since, I have enjoyed star gazing and it's added a special dimension to my life.  Yet being pretty much a homebody and not much of a traveler most of my life, I have missed out viewing a significant section of the night sky, that area between the celestial south pole and around 60 degrees S latitude which contains many smaller constellations and a couple of major ones: Crux (aka the Southern Cross) and Centaurus.  Growing up in Hollywood, Florida at 26 degrees N latitude should have enabled me to see them...they would be visible just above the southern horizon very briefly before setting, with evening during the month of May being the optimum viewing time.  Actually, I've seen the more northern stars in Centaurus but not the major two: Alpha and Beta Centauri, which lie on the celestial map a few degrees east (to the left from my vantagepoint) of Crux.  But the bright Miami city haze of light, as well as buildings, trees and clouds, prevented me from ever seeing them.  Now I live in Gainesville, which is close to 30 degrees N...forget about seeing them from here! I'd like someday to travel south of the Equator and view the entire southern sky, but a couple of weeks ago I was able to take advantage of a special opportunity while on our cruise ship with Melissa...

Our ship was returning from its trip to Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands and was in Bahamian waters, at about the same latitude as the Florida Keys.  I stood at the top deck rail and pinpointed where I would need to look to see Crux...and then we got up a little bit later, a few minutes past 2 on Saturday morning, February 15th and returned to our viewing spot at the rail.  And there they were, the four defining stars of Crux along with that inner star, just above the southern horizon over the open seas with no obscuring city lights in a clear area of the sky bordered on the left and right by clouds.  We couldn't see Alpha or Beta Centauri, but after 55 years of sporadic star gazing I finally got to set my sights on the Southern Cross, pretty cool...