Christmas present

[taxman (Matt)]

Hello,

I am taking my wife down to Sydney for the 'Wish upon a star' package at the powerhouse museum & observatory hotel for Christmas.

Part of it includes naming and observing a star at the observatory which is sort of cool. My problem is that I am unsure which constellation to pick.

I can find crux and scorpius okay, but was hoping someone might be able to give me some pointers on which of the following constellations would be good for (a) seeing all or most of the year and (b) easy to find in lght polluted skies when we get home.

Any advice would be helpful, thanks.

The contellations are:
Ara — The Altar — 30 June – 24 July; Carina — The Keel — 4 February – 11 April; Centaurus — The Centaur — 7 April – 1 June; Circinus — The Compasses — 1 June – 13 June; Crux — The Southern Cross — 20 April – 5 May; Dorado — The Goldfish — 2 January – 3 February; Eridanus — The River — 25 November – 12 December; Grus — The Crane (bird) — 22 September – 11 October; Horologium — The Pendulum Clock — 8 December – 2 January; Hydrus — The Little Water Snake — 25 November – 8 December; Indus — The Indian — 28 August – 22 September; Lupus — The Wolf — 26 May – 13 June; Norma — The Set Square — 9 June – 30 June; Pavo — The Peacock — 16 July – 12 September; Phoenix — The Phoenix — 11 October – 29 November; Pictor — The Painter’s Easel — 12 January – 16 February; Reticulum — The Net — 23 December – 16 January; Telescopium — The Telescope — 24 July – 28 August; Triangulum Australe — The Southern Triangle — 11 June – 3 July; Tucana — The Toucan — 22 September – 25 November; Vela — The Sails — 8 March – 7 April;

[erick (Eric)]

Hi taxman

Please tell us where home is so we know your latitude. What you see depends on that. How light-polluted are your skies?

[taxman (Matt)]

Of course <slaps head>....

I am The Gap, about 8 km from the Brisbane CBD.

Light polution is not too bad - on a good night 47 Tucanae looks like a smudge in my 8x25s

[erick (Eric)]

Taxman, best if you do your own research. I suggest you download and install Stellarium

http://www.stellarium.org/

It's free and once you set it to your location you can see what constellations are visible from your place and when.

Given your latitude, almost no bright constellations are visible all year round. You have to look for the ones close to the South Celestial Pole. Why don't you go for the old favourite - the Southern Cross (Crux). Always easy to find (except about now when it is partly below horizon for you in early evening). Maybe pick the time of year you think you will mostly want to look and see what is in the evening sky then?

Good luck! Give us a report on the package - that would be interesting!