“When you see the Southern Cross for the first time
You understand now why you came this way”
- Stephen Stills

When 15th-century European navigators first embarked on long voyages to southern seas, they watched nervously as they crossed the equator as Polaris, the North Star, sank below the horizon.  These navigators knew well the northern stars, and relied on them for safe passage.  What wonders and omens, they asked, would the southern skies hold?

They need not have worried.  For the southern skies held many delights.

Even hardened explorers like Magellan and Vespucci were dazzled by what they saw.

The bright Southern Cross soothed their fears and suggested divine sanction for their voyages.

The mysterious celestial clouds of Magellan had no counterpart in the northern skies.

And the vast symmetrical arc of the Milky Way overhead shone so brightly as to seemingly cast shadows during dark nights on the southern seas.

It’s the same for stargazers today…

*** Highly Recommended ***

Comprehensive online astronomy course helps you wield your telescope like a pro.   Insider tips and techniques from a renowned astronomy expert.  Great for northern and southern observers.   Instant download.  Click here to learn more…

* * * * * * * * * *

That’s because the south side of our planet gives a better view into the most star-rich portion of the spiral arm of our galaxy next-nearest to the center.   As a result, there are more bright stars, star clusters, and nebula along the band of southern constellations from Sagittarius through Crux and Carina than in any other part of the sky.

And purely by chance, the southern skies also hold many bright objects including globular clusters and peculiar galaxies that lie outside the plane of the Milky Way,

Here’s just a partial list of southern-hemisphere celestial sights unmatched in northern skies…

• The three brightest stars Sirius, Canopus, and Rigil Kent (also known as Alpha Centauri, the nearest star system to Earth)

• The Magellanic Clouds, two irregular dwarf galaxies gravitationally interacting with our own, and easily visible to the unaided eye

• Omega Centauri and 47 Tucanae, the two brightest globular clusters in the sky

• NGC 5128… a giant elliptical galaxy caught in the act of devouring an entire spiral galaxy like our Milky Way

• The Coalsack, the largest and most conspicuous dark nebula in the sky, which stands out from the glittering star field in Crux, the Southern Cross

• The Eta Carinae Nebula, the largest and brightest emission nebula in the sky, even more spectacular than the Orion Nebula.

But for the casual stargazer, perhaps the most magnificent sight from the southern hemisphere is the thick star clouds towards the center of the Milky Way in the constellation Sagittarius.  In the north, these star clouds are dimmed by the murky air near the horizon.  In the south, in June through August, they are directly overhead.  Lie back under the Milky Way south of the equator, and you’ll easily grasp our true place at the edge of a vast disk of stars.

Towards the center of the Milky Way, as seen from Australia.

And there are more oddities for northerners to see in the southern sky.  The sun is on the north side of the sky, and moves from right to left during the day (opposite from the northern hemisphere); there is no corresponding “southern star” near the southern pole; and of course, Orion is upside down, caught in a celestial cartwheel across the northern sky.

So how and where can you see the southern stars?

Anytime, anywhere south of the equator.  If you go, bring as much optics as you can carry… binoculars, telescope, or both.  The southern hemisphere is less light-polluted than the north, so it’s hard to find a bad place.  Though downtown Johannesburg, Sydney, or Auckland are not ideal places for stargazing.

Your best bets, of course, are dry, dark locations.  The dryest parts of Australia are wonderful (Alice Springs is a favorite for many stargazers).  The coal-black night skies of the nature reserves of South Africa come highly recommended from many readers of this website.  And of course, the bone-dry Atacama desert in northern Chile has excellent sky, and even dedicated destinations for astro-tourists (such as in San Pedro de Atacama, and in the Elqui Valley east of La Serena).

For northern dwellers, a view of the stars of the southern hemisphere require time and money and travel.   But what stargazer has lived fully without peering over the limb of the Earth to see the other half of the universe?  Surely, something worth checking off your celestial Bucket List?

P.S. And what about our southern hemisphere readers?  Is it worth a trip north?  I think yes… the northern skies have more interesting constellations.  The Big and Little Dippers are a magnificent sight, as are the star clusters of Cassiopeia and Perseus.  The galaxy duo M81 and M82, near the Big Dipper, along with the Double Cluster in Perseus, are unequalled.  And you will not see a prettier galaxy anywhere in the sky than NGC 4565 in Coma Berenices.