My first time sighting the Southern Cross!
As guests of our cousin Peter PJ Aguilar and Lee Paige, my sisters and I were invited to spend a splendiferous time in Puerto Vallarta. One of my vacation objectives was to sight the Southern Cross (Crux) which is not visible from the Bay Area. Finally, on the fourth and fifth evening, the marine layer thinned, making that possible.
Here is the constellation first seen in a wideshot, then in a close-up. A star map courtesy of Stellarium follows. In each image, due south is directly beneath Crux.
Not only is Alpha Centauri visible to the lower left of Crux, but in the top photo, the great globular cluster, Omega Centauri is also just faintly discernible to those who know where to look.
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| A wide view of the south-southeast from Villa La Estancia, Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit, Mexico. |
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| A close-up of Rigel Kentaurus (Alpha Centauri), Hadar, Epsilon Centauri, and Crux (the Southern Cross). |
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| Courtesy of Stellarium |
