Proyecto Astronómico Constelación Cruz del Sur southern_cross_colegio_cristobal_colon | Page 2

The Southern Cross
One of the constellations more easily seen during the whole year in the South Hemisphere
is the Southern Cross (in Spanish “Cruz del Sur”). This is a group of stars readily
observable (due to its simple shape) which has been object of veneration in diverse
cultures, providing guidance and inspiration for a long time. One of the telescopes at Cerro
Paranal [1] has been named after the Southern Cross using the mapudungún name for it,
Melipal [2], which means “four tips” (as in the tips of arrows). (N.B.: Mapudungún is the
language of the Mapuche, the native people living in central and southern Chile).
Our report includes the following aspects:
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The Southern Cross as lighthouse of literary inspiration.
Knowing the Southern Cross astronomically.
The Southern Cross in comparison to the Northern Cross.
The Southern Cross and the mythology of the original cultures of the Andes.
Classroom activity.
I. The Southern Cross as lighthouse of literary inspiration
Diverse authors have mentioned the Southern Cross in their works. Dante is one of them. In
the Divine Comedy he writes in the first canto of the second part: “I turned right and,
directing my attention to the other pole, I distinguished four stars only seen by the first
humans. The sky seemed to rejoice in their shine...”. [3]
A Chilean author, the Literature Nobel Prize winner Pablo Neruda, wrote in his book “One
hundred love sonets” (poem LXXXVI): “Oh Southern Cross, oh threefold of fragrant
phosphorum / with four kisses today it penetrated your beauty / and went through the
shadow and my hat: / the moon was round because of the chill. / Then with my love, oh
diamonds / of blue frost, serenity of the sky, / mirror, you appeared and all was full of night
/ with your four depots trembling of wine.” [4]
These two examples make us think on how this constellation has inspired different poets
which, from different latitudes and from different ways of viewing it, have found
themselves captivated by this stellar cross; Dante, in the XIII c., observing from far away,
and Neruda, in the XX c., from the austral Temuco [5], observing its whole grandeur.
II. Knowing the Southern Cross astronomically
This constellation is one of the 88 classified by the International Astronomical Union in
1930. Formerly it was part of Centaur after a classification by Ptolemy. Due to the
precession of the Earth the Southern Cross became invisible from the North Hemisphere. It
was split from Centaur by A. Royer in 1679. [6]
The shape of this constellation is that of a cross. It is formed by 4 outstanding stars and a
dark nebula. It can be distinguished from other cross found in the same hemisphere (the
False Cross) because it has a fifth star near its centre.