By: Jesus Otero
In Venezuela, the Cruz de Mayo celebrated this month, and it is precisely at the time that the constellation is visible all night in the sky
The Southern Cross is a of the most beautiful southern constellations, and a compass and a watch to the inhabitants of our planet's Southern Hemisphere.
The first described was Ferdinand Magellan when he sailed along the coasts of Tierra del Fuego to the south, the climate became increasingly harsh and sailors began to get scared by strong winds, high waves, and increasingly cold strong, and decided to return if the next day did not improve the climate. That night the sky finally was spotted and the crew of Magellan observed for the first time "The Wonderful Cross," as I call it the Captain, and took this as a warning sign of providence to continue. Days later they crossed the Strait of Magellan and the first time a European ship sailed this route between the Atlantic and Pacific. The Southern Cross and became a celestial sign in the Southern Hemisphere, as is his celestial counterpart, the Big Dipper as is from time immemorial in the Boreal.
This constellation is an icon for the people of South Earth. Australia and New Zealand have in their flags. But not only for them is a symbol, countries that are north of Ecuador, is admired.
In Venezuela, the Cruz de Mayo celebrated this month, and it is precisely at the time that the constellation is visible all night in the sky. This is not a coincidence. The festivities of the Cruz de Mayo have their origin in Spain. About 1,000 years ago, due to precession of the equinoxes, the Southern Cross was visible just over the horizon in the south of Spain, there is the holiday and "la Cruz de Mayo in the sky" is a national folklore sentence heard in the counterpoint Florentino and the Devil, Dr. Alberto Arvelo Torrealba. For our Yanomami represents a macaw, and the announcement of the rainy season strong.
This beautiful blue icon is composed of four bright stars called by order of brightness: Acrux, Gracrux, Mimosa, and Delta Crux. Among the stars and Gracrux Mimosa is one of the most beautiful open star clusters in the sky, called the cluster of Jewelry. This group of stars in front of a large dark nebula called the Coal Sack, is a nebula the size of the full moon, where myriads of stars are forming, that one day light up the sky in that region. The jeweler is named that the cluster has blue stars, white, yellow, orange, and red, standing out from the nebula and seem precious stones on black velvet. It's like watching diamonds, sapphires, emeralds and rubies on a black background, hence its name.
The constellation is fully crossed by the Milky Way galaxy, and has amazing star fields, a large number of double and variable stars, star clusters and nebulae. As if that were not much, if we take the cross over the Cross and its distance 3.5 times projected southward, we came very close to the celestial South Pole, occupied by the star Sigma Octant, which is the South Pole Star.
In the month of May this constellation we can see clearly the sky after sunset, and will be there all night. If you want to see it in Caracas, look to the hills south of the city. I will not say how to locate, is so notorious that it is impossible to miss.
This constellation was seen in Southern Europe just under a thousand years, but now is invisible because of precession of the equinoxes. The tradition of the Cruz de Mayo is rooted in the alleged finding of a piece of wood of the cross where Jesus was crucified, which, according to history, occurred May 3. However it is very possible that the Cross has been a festival to celebrate the appearance of the constellation built in the southern horizon, which looked great in the skyline.
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