Crux - the Southern Cross

My original thought for naming this blog Southern Exposure was that since I’ve spent almost my entire life in the northern hemisphere and I’m moving to Australia and spending an extended time in South America, it would be my exposure to the southern half of the planet.

My TPunk friend Nick suggested a similar name that I liked even better…so I’m now calling it a southern crossing.  It makes sense since I’m traveling from Argentina to Australia.  The Southern Cross is also a famous constellation, visible year-round in the southern hemisphere.  It features prominently in flags of Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and a few provinces of Argentina.  And it has cultural significance to Argentine Gauchos, the Maori, and the Aborigines:

A tradition that is widespread in Australia is that of the “Emu in the Sky”, a ‘constellation‘ that is defined by dark nebulas (opaque clouds of dust and gas in outer space) that are visible against the milky way background, rather than by stars. The Emu’s head is the very dark Coalsack nebula, next to the Southern Cross; the body and legs are other dark clouds trailing out along the Milky Way to Scorpius.

Cool.  Thanks Nick!  I like it.