if all the stars are back to front south of the equator what would you see if you stood on the eqautor?

Question

i.e would you see what we seen in england or would you see what they see in australia?

Answer 1

Stars are all relative of your position on the Earth.
You wouldn't see England's or Australia's make-up, you'd see something uniquely relative to that location.

Answer 2

I really have a problem with the above answers, I don't see a good one in the mix.

Imagine this: the stars are fixed upon the inside of a sphere, and the sphere rotates on the axis of Earth's North (Polaris)and South poles. It's that simply, that's why it's been called the celestial sphere for thousands of years.

The equator is the one latitude where you can see virtually every constellation. Even though the North star will always be just barely above the horizon or just below it, once each, per day. And the same for the corresponding small piece of sky right at the southern pole. On the equator, looking straight up, you will always have the zodiac constellations, all making one complete revolution around you per day.

As you move say, North, Polaris will rise further above the horizon, and the southern celestail pole area will drop below, hidden at all times. If you go all the way to the North pole, looking straight up you will see Polaris, and all around your horizon will be the top half of the zodiac constellations, constantly revolving arounf you in a circle, and nothing south of them ever visible.

Going only part way North, say to England, Polaris will be at the same angle above the horizon as the latitude of where in England you are, and all stars within the same angle of the southern celestial pole will never rise above the horizon. I'm in California, at 34 degrees latitude, so Polaris is always about 34 degrees above the horizon, everything in the sky revolves around it, and all stars within 34 degrees of the southern celstial pole are never visible from here.

Of course, the same situation in reverse applys south of the equator. The further south you go, the larger the circle around Polaris that you never see. Once you get to the south pole, the "other half" of the zodiac signs constantly revolve around the horizon, and you only ever see the half of the sky that the north pole never sees.

Only at the equator do you see nearly everything.

Answer 3

I believe you are confused. If you are suggesting that the shapes of constellations reverses (back to front?) to either side of the equator, I don't know where you got the idea.

Try this thought experiment. Visualize the big dipper. When you are fairly far north, this constellation should be high up in the night sky. Move yourself southward, and the constellation will appear lower and lower until there comes a point where it 'sets' over the horizon. However, at no time did the pattern made by those stars alter in any way.

Someone has planted a false notion in your mind, and only by trying to visualize the actual situation will you get rid of that notion.

Answer 4

Constellations on or near the celestial equator (such as Orion) can be seen from both the northern and southern hemispheres.
To someone used to a certain view, if they were to go to the other hemisphere they would see the familiar constellation upside-down.
For example, with Orion, the star Betelgeuse (on his shoulder) is in the northern part of the constellation, so appears further north than most other stars in Orion. This is true no matter where you are looking from.

But - in the Northern Hemisphere, Orion appears in the southern sky and so Betelgeuse (a more northern star) would appear higher in the sky than the rest of Orion.
Conversely, in the southern hemisphere, Orion appears in the northern sky and so Betelgeuse appears lower in the sky (further to the north) than the rest of Orion.

On the equator, Orion would rise right overhead and so it would not matter which way up it was.

Answer 5

The stars are totally different South of the equator. There are totally different constelations, totally different everything.

Here's a pdf map of the Northern Hemisphere:
http://www.skymaps.com/skymaps/tesmn0708.pdf

Here's one for the Southern Hemisphere:
http://www.skymaps.com/skymaps/tesms0708.pdf

Remember that the sky also rotates (well...the Earth is actually what' moving but you get the idea) so it looks different depending on what time of night it is. So...if you stood on the equator, you would see the sky from Polaris (the North Star) to the Southern cross (basically, if you stood out there all night, you would see a little more than half of the night sky because the sun blocks the other half when it comes up).

Answer 6

If you stand on the Equator, you will see the starry sky divided equally in the Northern and Southern celestial Hemispheres. So, your own zenith point will be on the celestial Equator. The celestial poles will be on opposite directions on the horizon. In a night, because of the Earth's rotation, all the stars will make half a circle on the sky. If you are in England, you will see mainly (because of the high latitude) the Northern celestial hemisphere, while the celestial Equator will be on your own south direction and your own zenith will lie between the celestial Equator and the celestial North pole. In Australia, you will see mainly the Southern hemisphere, the celestial Equator will be seen towards north direction and your own zenith point will stand between the celestial Equator and the celestial South pole.

Answer 7

The stars aren't back to front south of the equator. In fact, the stars seen from the southern hemisphere are completely different to those seen from the northern hemisphere.

For example, the "North Star" which can be seen from the northern hemisphere cannot be seen in the southern hemisphere, while the "Southern Cross" (which is the star constellation that appears on the Australian, New Zealand, Papua New Guinean flags) can't seen from the northern hemisphere.

Answer 8

They are not really back to front south of the equator. They may look upside down to you though. I suppose they might look sideways to you at the equator. Use the source to make maps and horizon views of the sky from any place on Earth and see for yourself.

Answer 9

i know a bloke who wonted to see where the sun set
he raced up to the top of a big hill
and it suddenly dawned on him

Answer 10

Yeah,probably the same thinghie!
A Bright,thinghie,up,there.