Amazing

How many of you have had this experience? It happened to me again just the other day. Whenever I talk to someone (non-astronomy types which is a majority of the people) who who has just returned from a trip to the southern hemisphere I always ask them "What was it like to look up at a night sky that looks so different?" The usually reply is "I didn't notice and I didn't know it was any different". My dad spent 3 years in the Philippines in WWII and never noticed that the constellations were different. He never remembered seeing the Clouds of Magellan.

It never ceases to amaze me that the vast majority of people are so ignorant of and indifferent about the Universe they live in. Our public schools are to blame a lot, they have little interest in astronomy and most of the teachers (I have discussed this with them) lack even rudimentary knowledge of basic astronomy. (Beyond naming the 9 planets). Most people can recognize the Big Dipper and a fair portion can actually recognize Orion, but in many cases that’s the extent of it.

I would love to see the sky from way down south - it would seem to me that it would be like visiting another part of the galaxy, which in a way it would. But then I am so familiar with the Northern Sky that it would be instantly apparent that the universe had changed. Some day I will see it, as I'm sure many of you have.

What was it like the first time?

Daryl

The first time I saw the southern sky I was awestruck, to
say the least. I was so happy I was jumping around and shouting, pointing things out. Recognizing the constellations took a while.
It is safe to say that I was "star lost". The milky way cast
a shadow - I had a witness there to double check that it was
really that bright. Then, bending backward and looking north,
I could see the familiar northern sky and immediately noticed
how the milky way seemd to fade out - in Cygnus! It really
is that much better in the south, in my humble opinion.
You could definitely understand why the ancients of South
America named the dark lanes of the galaxy and not the star
patterns, because they are that much more apparent in the
southern sky. Start saving money now for a trip to the
southern hemisphere. You'll be glad you did! Thanks for
shaking loose the good memories I have of my first sight
of the southern sky. Good Observing!

I went to New Zealand in 75 as part of the Antarctic Support team in the Navy. We were based in Christchurch, South Island, and I had my 8" f/7 newt with me!(Those C-130's have lots of room for junk!) The first night I walked to a dark area and watched Orion rise in the east, upside down! WOW! I was blown away. Omega Centaur, 47 Tuk, Magellanic Clouds, Southern Cross, Kappa Cruxis, Eta Carina, and all naked eye. Looking back I should have had a good pair of binos instead of the scope, but I sure had fun. My dream is to return someday, maybe even for good. The skies are simply awesome down under!

Walt

I wonder if these are the same people that buy computers from electronics department stores?

Before the inevitable post comes where someone chews be out for expecting that everyone should take an interest in "my hobby" let me explain.

I don't expect everyone to share my passion for astronomy BUT astronomy is not quite like stamp collecting. We all live in the Universe and we are all part of it. I think everyone should at least have a basic appreciation and a basic interest and a general understanding of our place in the Universe. There are a lot of people that think the planets are all in tight little circles around the Sun because that's what is shown in books, and they have never bothered to read about the true distances. A lot of people think that galaxies are spread out in the Milky Way along with the planets and many don’t even know what a galaxy is. Most people envision the Moon orbiting about 10,000 miles away because that's the way it's drawn in books for reasons of scale. There is no interest to understand it. As I tried to explain to my father-in-law some basic stellar fact, he asked me in all sincerity if other stars also had gravity like the Sun! No kidding.

Now, I would expect that in a portion of the population. But I am amazed that something so incredible as the very existence of the Universe could be so insignificant to so many people who on the other hand have a unwavering interest in some as mindless as their favorite sitcom on TV.

Again, that so many people could care so little about the Universe of which they are a part, I don't judge, I just find it disappointing and amazing.

Daryl

That's a rather personal question isn't it, Daryl?

On a serious note my first true exposure to the southern sky was rather amazing.

Dave Mitsky