The vanishing sky

[HenryC]

Here's another preview, a short article under development for a Florida magazine.  For copyright reasons, I will remove it if it is accepted. Enjoy.

Removed 12/10/09 - HC

[kchunk]

Thanks Henry! Wow and very true!

A few moments in my life most etched into my memory were the nights out sailing in the Keys. You can literally see forever. The Milky Way is very prominent through the sky. It's just something you never forget. In fact, sitting here, I can perfectly recall the mood, the sounds, the smells...

I've heard that for a few weeks during the Spring, from Central FL southward, we can even catch a glimpse of Crux or the Southern Cross. Living in Central FL, I'm yet to "see the Southern Cross for the first time", but whenever the night is clear and it's the right time of year, I'm often checking my Starry Night app on my iPod just in case.

Thanks for a great article!

--Greg

[HenryC]

Alpha Crucis, the bright star at the southern end of the Cross, is roughly at Declination 65 degrees South in the southern Milky Way, which means the Southern Cross should just clear the horizon at Key West's latitude.

Alpha Centauri, at roughly the same Declination, and just two hours of Right Ascension to the east, should follow it a couple of hours later.  Just 4 light years away, Alpha Cen is the nearest star to our own Sun, and quite similar to it in size, brightness, color and surface temperature.  A resident of one of its planets could look back at our Sun and see only a bright star in the constellation Cassiopeia, also  framed by the star clouds of  the Milky Way.

Even on the clearest nights, objects near the horizon are often lost in the haze, but on an exceptional night you should be just able to see it.  The furthest south I've ever seen is the great globular cluster Omega Centauri, from Port Charlotte.