After sampling all those delicious South African wines, the game ranger students were tempted to head to the nearest bar and show off their knowledge. Unfortunately, they’d have to wait as the senior rangers had something else planned for them, a night of star-gazing under the South African skies.
As well as being versed in matters of wildlife conservation, game rangers need to know about astronomy and how to guide using the stars. The star that they use to navigate in South Africa is the Southern Cross which can only be seen in the Southern hemisphere, and is instantly recognisable at the constellation hat features on the Australian and New Zealand flags. The four brightest stars in this constellation form a cross pattern that sailors have been using for centuries to navigate by.
The students were shown how to use this point to find due south. A lone bright star near the constellation was pointed out and the students learnt that was named Achernar. They were then shown two stars called the pointers and asked to extend an imaginary line from Archernar to these two smaller stars. They were then told that the South Celestial Pole was at the halfway point between this line and that by dropping vertically down to the horizon they would find south. As the majority of game ranger students were from the Northern Hemisphere learning to navigate south was a novel concept as most had been taught to navigate using the Northern Pole star. The game rangers also learnt that whilst some constellations such as the plough aren’t visible in the Southern Hemisphere, the south has its own unique constellations that can’t be seen in the north. They were introduced to the Jewel Box and the Coal Sack before retreating to their tents to enjoy their first night spent sleeping under the stars.
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