Stargazing the Southern Hemisphere was one of the activities we just had to try, and so we did some in Cusco for the first time in the planetarium. The shuttle took us there and we all went in the planet room to analyse a projection on the ceiling. Julio, the fun astrophysicist leading our group, showed us the constellations 🌌 and the stars 😮 and explained how to orient ourselves in the Southern sky (much harder than the North!!) as well as how the Incas used the stars not only to navigate but also to explain the seasons (basically 2: rainy and dry). Then, we went outside and looked into two humunguous telescopes to look at Jupiter and three of its moons (super cool) and we even saw Saturn! (it looked like a computer icon – very clear, white and unreal). Because we were so close to the equator here, we got to see star constellations from both hemispheres.
Well, we liked stargazing so much we just had to do it a second time, this time in San Pedro de Atacama. The lady there showed us the stars with the naked eye before moving on to telescopes, each one set on different star (or planet).
💫 Some fun astro-facts 💫
- Did you know that you can see the following planets with a telescope or with your naked eye? Note: It will be easier to see them from the indicated hemisphere, but also try yourself.
Mercury: Hemisphere: Northern
When to see it: ONLY AFTER SUNSET
How to recognise it: Mercury is pretty bright, and is next to the horizon, before it disappears behind the Sun.
Venus: Hemisphere: Northern
When to see it: After sunset
How to recognise it: Venus is the brightest object in the night sky, after the Moon.
Jupiter: Hemisphere: Southern
When to see it: Around Midnight
How to recognise it: Jupiter is the first very bright star parallel to the Moon.
Saturn: Hemisphere: Southern
When to see it: Around Midnight
How to recognise it: Saturn is the second very bright star parallel to the Moon.
- The Incans believed that in the Milky Way, there lived a black llama. The (super bright) stars Alpha and Beta Centauri serve as its “eyes” and are the first to emerge when the llama rises in November. Every dry season, the black llama came down from the skies to drink the water from the lakes and the seas, and then went back up to the Milky Way. Then, during the rainy season, to put the water back, the llama made it rain a lot. The constellation consists of two llamas, a mother, and a baby.
Questions and Answers (Qs&As)
Q: Why are San Pedro de Atacama and Cusco good places to do stargazing?
A: They are good places to stargaze because they are next to the equator and so you can see constellations from both hemispheres.
Q: How to orient yourself in the Southern night sky (like using the Northern Star in the North)?
A: The South has no centrally fixed star like we have the Polar Star in the North, but instead has four stars forming a cross. That cross, called the Southern cross, always points towards the South. That said, it is much harder to identify the South with this Southern cross because i) there are HUNDREDS of 4 star crosses in the sky, and ii) it moves (vs the Polar Star which basically stays central despite the Earth’s rotation). There is something about the two brightest pointer stars and then taking 4.5 times the length of that. But to be honest, I don’t get it.