south celestial pole

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Related to south celestial pole: north celestial pole
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Noun1.south celestial pole - the celestial pole above the southern hemisphere
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The south celestial pole can be found midway along the line joining Crux to Achernar.
But the Southern Cross served as a good omen to Christian navigators, and it was practical, too: its long shaft points to within a few degrees of the south celestial pole. And in time navigators learned to find their way using many other bright southern stars.
To compensate for your local latitude, your sundial's pointer, or gnomon, that casts the shadow on the hour marks should point towards the celestial pole (the north celestial pole if you're in the Northern Hemisphere, the south celestial pole if you're in the Southern Hemisphere).
If you draw an imaginary line from Achernar to the Southern Cross, then the South Celestial Pole lies at about halfway along this line.
In the southern hemisphere the gnomon will point to the south celestial pole (in the northern hemisphere, it points towards the pole star).
Viewed from midsouthern latitudes, Crux is a circumpolar constellation whose long axis aims at the south celestial pole. In every other direction Crux points to neighboring Centaurus, the Centaur, from which it was calved--and renamed--by chart makers in the 16th century.
On the other hand, the south celestial pole, along with the stars near it, are never above the horizon as seen from Europe.
The latitude of an observer on earth is the altitude of the north or south celestial pole. No star is located exactly at either celestial pole, but the Pole Star is not far from the north celestial pole, making a small orbit about it once every twenty-four hours.
The south celestial pole is located midway between Crux and Achernar, the star marking the southern end of Eridanus (the River).
He found the latter only 1/2[degrees] from the south celestial pole while observing from the Cape of Good Hope.
We lack a significant pole star in the southern hemisphere so many people use the Cross to find the south celestial pole. If you continue the line between Gamma Crucis and Alpha Crucis for about 4.5 times the distance between them ten you will end up at a point fairly close to the south celestial pole.

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