The Great Southern Fake-out

For the first time since leaving the Mediterranean- bound for NYC, all the
way back in February- I have a night sky worth gazing at... storms, tropical
haze, and moonshine have all but eradicated any observable celestial
anything. There is little traffic to maneuver around once you're off the
coasts of the Arabian Sea so I've gawked at the sky at my leisure for the
past two nights. And I'm going to tell you about it whether you want me to
or not, so grab a drink and have a seat. Take a load off. Keep quiet.

Once the view was finally clear and dark, I was very happy to look out the
wheelhouse and see Corvus (the Crow) on the left, and what I thought was
Crux (the Southern Cross) on the right. It turns out not to have been Crux
at all, though. It took me a while of scratching my head and spinning the
chart around before I figured out why, as I've mentioned in previous posts,
I have found pinpointing such a recognizable constellation to be confounding
at this latitude: Where the two nearby constellations of Vela and Carina
meet is an identical looking grouping of stars.

It is at the exact same angle to the equator of the celestial sphere as
Crux. It is exactly asymmetrical, and to the same degree, as Crux. And it
is right next to the Greater and Lesser Megallanic Clouds (two
visible-to-the-naked-eye galaxies, like Andromeda), also exactly like Crux.
The only way that the union of Vela and Carina (I call it the "Pseudocrux")
differs in any way from the Southern Cross is that it is slightly larger and
the angle of the arm is opposite. So now I know- the Pseudocrux, Corvus,
and Crux all form a large, inverted isosceles triangle. The horizontal arm
of Pseudocrux points at the star Acrux, brightest star of the Southern
Cross, which is the base of the cross (incidentally, the topmost star is
"Gacrux," the happiest star in the southern sky).

Canopus is the brightest star in Carina and it has been to our right as my
watch starts. Carina extends even closer to the celestial pole than Crux,
so I am on watch for its southernmost star, Miaplacidus, to rise above the
horizon once we get far enough south. On our left is an equally cool star,
Arcturus, which is the brightest star in Bootes. Both Canopus and Arcturus
rival Sirius for brilliance and awesome colors when they're low in the sky.

So there you have it- the mystery of Crux and Pseudocrux... solved! And
now, like always, I am about to take what little time I have and use it to
sleep...

6 days until Singapura! Hoping to hear all about Laura's flight information
soon... I've been saving up my "timeback" so I can spend as much time ashore
with her as possible. I am very excited!