We live on a planet that is constantly moving, which affects what we see in the sky. As the Earth rotates on its axis, we experience day and night. As the Earth orbits around the Sun, we experience the seasons. For each season we see different constellations in the night sky. For example, the constellation of Scorpius is best seen during winter, while the constellation of Orion is visible on summer evenings. The Southern Cross is a good constellation to watch throughout the entire year because it never disappears below the horizon. It can always be seen circling around the South Celestial Pole.
The information given is for around 8pm (AEST) during December.
The Southern Cross in Summer
Copyright: Melbourne Planetarium
In the night sky:
The Southern Cross and the Two Pointers are nearly upside down and very low in the south.
The Milky Way is low in the east arching from north to south.
The star Achernar is high in the south with Canopus trailing behind in the south-east.
Orion, the hunter, can be seen in the north-east. It contains the bright stars Betelgeuse and Rigel. Between these two bright stars is a line of three stars called Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, that mark the belt of Orion. Orion's belt is more commonly recognised in Australia as the base of the Saucepan.
To the west of Orion, is the triangle-shaped face of Taurus the bull. This is a cluster of stars called the Hyades. The bright orange-red star, Aldebaran, marks one eye of the bull. In Taurus there is another faint cluster of stars called the Pleiades or Seven Sisters.
With 7 x 50 binoculars:
The magnificent Great Nebula in Orion is visible as a cloudy star in the sword of Orion (or handle of the Saucepan). The Pleiades and Hyades clusters in Taurus are also spectacular with binoculars.
With a telescope:
The Horsehead Nebula can be seen near the star Alnitak in the belt of Orion.
Below Aldebaran is a faint star which marks the tip of one horn of Taurus and close to this is the Crab Nebula, the remnant of an exploded star discovered in 1054 AD.
Low in the northwest, is the Andromeda galaxy. It is 2,200,000 light years away and stretches 180,000 light years across.