Finding the Southern Cross and South

Using the southern cross to find where south is handy skill to have

Once you know where south is you can find North, east and west. This means if you are lost you may be able to find your way home or at least know you are not walking in a circle

The southern cross is on the New Zealand and Australian flag. The Australians have the extra small star on theirs.

Using the southern cross to find south is very reliable

Once you are familiar with finding the Southern Cross, it can be used to work out the direction of south at any time of night and at any time in the year. This is because the Southern Cross never sets when viewed from most of New Zealand. the only problem is bad weather or if you have very high hills around you.

At different times of the year the southern cross will look different to the picture here

Why can you use the southern cross to find south

Because of the earth’s rotation stars appear to travel in a large arc across the sky. Some then disappear below the horizon and other stars never ‘set’ below the horizon. If you use a time exposure camera those that never set will trace a circle in the sky. At the centre of these circles is a point called the South Celestial Pole. (6)

The south celestial pole part of the sky is directly above the South Pole of the Earth. This means if you stood at the South Pole, the South Celestial Pole would be directly overhead.

By finding the south celestial pole you know where south is

If you stand and face this point you can figure out the four points of the compass

1. South is directly in front of you
2. North is directly behind you
3. West is to your Right 90 degrees off your nose
4. East is to your Left 90 degrees off your nose

How to find the Celestial pole number (6)

The southern cross is made up of four stars. With another less bright star tucked in there. There are two others called the pointers and you need to spot them in order to use the Southern Cross to find south.

1. Find the Southern cross (1)
2. Locate the two pointers (2)
3. Draw an imaginary line through the longest part of the cross (3)
4. Draw an imaginary line between the two pointers (4)
5. Draw an imaginary line that intersects line (4) in the middle of the line at 90 degrees (5)
6. Where lines 3 and 5 intersect is the South Celestial Pole (6)
7. Face the South celestial pole and you face directly south

A PDF you can take outside with you