Southern Cross from Yaeyama Islands

Looking south over the Pacific Ocean, stars of the Southern Cross (small but notable constellation Crux) rises a couple of degrees above the horizon as seen from Yaeyama Islands (latitude 24 degrees north) in the East China Sea, Okinawa Prefecture of Japan. Placed at the Iriomote-Ishigaki National Park TWAN photographer also captured the bright stars Alpha and Beta Centauri in this frame (left to the Southern Cross). Another bright source in the view is Omega Centauri in the middle left. The non-stellar nature of this giant globular star cluster is possible to guess even in this medium wide-angle view. Click on the second photo to see a long exposure photo sequence of this view that has captured the trailing stars. The brightest reflection is made by Acrux, the brightest star of Crux, that marks the tip of the cross. It is the southernmost first-magnitude star. © Yuichi Takasaka