When you see the Southern Cross for the first time...

One of the things I'm most geekily excited about on this upcoming trip to Cozumel is that the night sky will be slightly different. The island is far enough south to see some constellations that are not ever visible from the United States. I suppose what thrills me the most is the Southern Cross (Crux). No other constellation in the sky has so many bright stars, except Orion. I guess you'd liken it to the Big Dipper in its fame. The Southern Cross is featured on several nations' flags.

Here is the region I'm interested in:


Click to enlarge

The Alpha Centauri system, which includes the star closest to us (four light years away) is also something I've never seen. This yellow star to the left in the picture is much like the Sun. It's only bright and notable because it's hundreds of times closer to us. Also of note is the Great Nebula in Carina. Hidden in this nebula is the star Eta Carinae. Eta Carina is a wildly unstable, enourmous star of at least 100 solar masses that is at its life's end. It could go supernova at any time and become brighter than anything except the moon. Lastly, in interest of "brevity," are the Coal Sack and Jewel Box. These are harder to see. The Coal Sack is a dark area to the bottom left of Crux. It's a dusty nebula that blocks the light of stars behind it, making an emptier spot in the sky. The Jewel Box is a tight cluster of stars gravitationally associated with each other. To see these last two phenomena more clearly, I'll have to use binoculars.

If I don't forget them...