Expert: Paul Wagner - 8/19/2005

Question
Thank you Paul.  So, if I am travelling to New York City then the Caribbean for a few weeks and I wanted to tell a special someone in Australia to look up at the sky at night when thinking of me, I would tell him to look for the constellation Scorpio?

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Followup To
Question -
Is there a star that can be seen from both the southern and northern hemispheres?
Answer -
Dear Tonya:

Sure--plenty of stars.  Remember that you can see some stars of the southern hemisphere from the USA--and we are in the northern hemishere.  Much of the constellation Scorpio meets this description. At the most extreme, you can see stars that are on the celestial equator even if you are at the North or South Pole--although they will be very close to the horizon.  The belt of Orion is right on that equator, so those stars are visible to just about everyone on Earth.

Paul Wagmer  

Answer
Dear Tonya:

What a sweet idea--and yes, Scorpio would be a good constellation to mention.  It has a very bright red star, Antares, that is easy to find...and it is up in the sky after sunset...right where you and your friend could see it.

Paul Wagner