The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1946-04-09
SOUTHERN CROSS CAN BE SEEN
NOW in SKY BEFORE MIDNIGHT

the tropical sky. Here, in Key
West, that rich field is high
enough above the horizon to De
appreciated in all its beauty. Ira
yelling north, tn! field grows dim.
mer as its gets closer to the hor;
ION and finally disappears entire
ly in the higher latitudes.
Now is the time to look for
the Southern Cross, 1t can be
seen rising in the South East
about 40 minutes before mid
niilt. but the best time to OBJ
serve it is when it crosses the
meridian or is duly south. Fat
ing the South East. look for
Jupiter. the most brilliant OBJ
ject in the sky. A few degrees
West. you will find a first mag
nitude star. Spica. in the con-
stellation of Virgo. Following in
the same direction you will no
tice four fainter stars forming
a trapezium or an irregular
square with its upper side short
er and sianting this is Corvus
or The Crow.
When Corvus is exactly South,
the Southern Cross is also on the
meridian but much lower, reSemb,
ling more a kite than a cross, as
there is no star to mark the center
of the cross. The right arm is
shorter than the left one
making it somewhat unbalanced.
The lower star, Alpha cruxis, is
only three and one-half degrees
above the Key West horizon,
meaning that you will have to
look way down to find it. The
upper star is six degrees above
alpha making ne standing post
of the cross rather short.
AS the stars rise four minutes
earlier every night, the Southern
Cross can be seen one hour earlier
every Is days. After June first,
its earlier rising will be lost in
the sunset and undesirable.
Sailors who saw the Cross from
the southern hemisphere, may b.
for the constelia-
ton that guided them on the 9TH
er side of the world was a very
brilliant one while from here it Is
rather unconspicious. There they
had it almost overhead, while here
it lies very low and much of its
light is absorbed or refracted by
the dover, dense layers of our at
Each season, in turn, brings 9TH
er consultations in view. The ricn
est star fields brighten our Sum
mer and Winter skies while our
Spring and Fall heavens are mutn
DINNER; but each month, regard
less, offers interesting features 20
the star gazer
Fortunately now, all the main
planets are in good position f9r
observation. Venus, the evenin.
star, gracefully sets in the west
shortly after shutdown, while in
the Zenith, Saturn and Mars race
across the sky, forming various
and beautiful patterns with the
twins, Castor and Pollux. Jupi-
ter slowly rises in the east, and
when viewed through the tcre
scope reveals set of dark belts
and an ever-changing pattern of
its fur main moons revolving
It.
Interested readers Of this article
are invited to spend an enjoyable
evening looking through an *
cellent telescope made entirely by
a resident of this city, w. M.
That eight-inch reflector
is located at 1907 Division street.
Either Mr.. Whitley or this writer
will be glad to show them not
only the moons of Jupiter, but also
the rings of Saturn, the polar cap
Of Mars, the great nebula in Or
ion, the star clusters in Cancer,
Pleiades, CAMS Major, etc. Tire
features of the moon arc also Of
greater interest as after night
Of two weeks, one by one, crater5
seas and mountains emerge from
darkness to intense sunlight.
The study of the heavens is
Continued on Page Four)