star see survey

Star study is a diagram to read the night sky in 3d [spatially] using the southern cross [crux] constellation.

The Southern Cross is an asterism formed by the brightest stars in the constellation Crux.
It is the most familiar star pattern in the far southern night sky. The asterism carries cultural meaning and significance in many countries in the southern hemisphere. In Ptolemy’s time [circa 100 – 165 CE], Crux was part of the constellation Centaurus. It was visible to the Ancient Greeks, but by 400 CE, the Earth’s axial precession lowered the Southern Cross below the horizon for most of Europe – making it unseen north of about latitude 26 degrees north.

Composed of five stars it is the smallest constellation in the sky. The stars are:
Gacrux (Gamma Crucis)
Imai (Delta Crucis)
Ginan (Epsilon Crucis)
Acrux (Alpha Crucis)
Mimosa (Beta Crucis)

The Southern Cross has a key role in navigation because it contains two first magnitude stars [Acrux and Mimosa] and Acrux with Gacrux point in the direction of the southern celestial pole. Acrux is the 13th brightest star in the sky and is a double star [binary star], that orbits each other and appear as one. Mimosa is the 20th and Gacrux the 25th brightest star in the sky. Generally the sequence of star brightness is clockwise from Acrux, however, the star see survey project records the perceived brightness sequence, since it is expected to vary.

Perception is complex. The star see survey project is an activity to see the night sky in three dimensions using the southern cross constellation as a proto test of the theory and to refine the tools [the diagram and the telling of the story]. The invitees are tasked to place themselves in a dark environment [zero or low level of light pollution], taking the narrative provided and recording the results. The shift from seeing the night sky as a dome of stars on one plane [graphically] to perceiving/imagining the stars in three dimensions [spatially] is a reformation.