The farther north you live, the less of the universe you can see. Earth itself blocks the view of a large swath of the southern celestial hemisphere. That’s the half of the sky that’s south of the celestial equator – the projection of Earth’s equator. So those of us in the United States miss out on at least part of the southern sky.

One of the treasures we miss is Crux, the southern cross. It’s the smallest of the 88 constellations. But it’s also one of the prettiest and most prominent.

Four of its stars are fairly bright, and they do form a shape that looks like a cross. If you include one more star in the pattern – the faintest of the five – the pattern looks more like a kite. It points the way to the south celestial pole.

Not surprisingly, that pattern has played a big role in the skylore of many southern-hemisphere cultures. Several saw the cross as the footprint of a big bird. Others saw it as a stingray, the anchor of a giant canoe, or some other prominent object or animal.

Today, Crux is featured on the flags of Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil. It’s also on the flag of the European Southern Observatory – which has a great view of the southern cross.

From the United States, Crux is barely visible from the Florida Keys, far-southern Texas, and Hawaii. At this time of year, it’s quite low above the southern horizon in early evening – pointing the way to the celestial pole.

More about Crux tomorrow.

Script by Damond Benningfield