The Southern Cross was an important navigational benchmark for sailors. We originally wrote this New Zealand guide 10 years ago starting with 15 things, and has now grown to 46 of the top New Zealand experiences that we have personally done!. The star has 1.42 times the Sun’s mass and a radius 32.9 times solar. Crux can be found on the national flags of Australia, New Zealand, Papua New … Image: ESO/S. It is at approximately -60° declination and can’t be seen north of 30°N. New Zealand's first flag, the flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand, was adopted in 1834, six years before New Zealand's separation from New South Wales and creation as a separate colony following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. Gamma Crucis is also sometimes called Rubidea, or Ruby-like, because of its colour. Southern Cross Travel Insurance offers award-winning cover to Kiwi travellers. Estimates of the extent of kauri forest before European settlement in New Zealand are between 1 million and 1.5 million hectares. New Zealand - New Zealand - Relief: Although New Zealand is small, its geologic history is complex. The stars that form the cross asterism are just the brightest ones located in the constellation. The All Blacks use 'Ka Mate' as their haka, which was composed in the 1820s by the Maori chief Te Rauparaha. Southern Ocean, the southern portions of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans and their tributary seas surrounding Antarctica. It was in this period – at some point in the 17th century – that Crux was finally separated from Centaurus. It is the 14th Once the precession of the equinoxes lowered the whole constellation below the horizon when observed from Europe, the five bright stars of Crux were gradually forgotten. There are over 3000 glaciers larger than one hectare with the longest glacier being the Tasman Glacier at 23.5km. Portuguese sailors mapped Crux for navigation while sailing near the southern tip of Africa, and Amerigo Vespucci is believed to be the first European to see the “four stars” as he called them, during his third voyage in 1501. Crux is bordered by the constellations Centaurus (which surrounds it on three sides) on the east, north and west, and Musca to the south. The Southern Cross in the night sky has guided travellers, intrigued astronomers and inspired poets and musicians. Four bright stars form the The Southern Cross is one of the best known asterisms in the night sky, and the most familiar star pattern in the southern hemisphere. The Southern Cross on the New Zealand flag only has four stars, while the Aussie one has six and is more astronomically correct, though any New Zealander will tell you that’s just the Australians being picky. The longer bar of the cross-shaped star pattern points almost exactly to the South Pole in the sky. The most problematic situation usually occurs with short journeys from west to east. The star is classified as a Beta Cephei variable with three different pulsation periods. The Coalsack is located approximately 600 light-years away from Earth in the southern part of the constellation of Crux (the Southern Cross).This seemingly starless dark patch is actually an opaque interstellar dust cloud that obscures the light of the background Milky Way stars. The cross is also on the Australian flag (although it shows all five stars compared to New Zealand’s four). At Southern Cross Travel Insurance, we've been providing great quality cover for people visiting New Zealand since 2003. Who better to protect you during your stay in New Zealand than one of the country's leading and most respected travel insurers? It has an apparent magnitude of 1.63 and is approximately 88.6 light years distant. The Royal Navy promoted James Cook to Captain following his return and had a new mission for him, to find Terra Australis Incognita, the unknown southern land. The Incas tell that the god Ataguchu, in a fit of temper, kicked the Milky Way and a fragment flew off, forming the Small Magellanic Cloud where it landed on the sky, and leaving the black mark of the Coalsack behind. On the flag’s fly, there is a pattern of stars representing the Southern Cross in the Crux constellation. The Southern Cross (The Constellation Crux) The Southern Cross is the best known and most represented star group in the Southern Hemisphere. The cross It too was for use at sea or in foreign ports, but it soon came ashore onto public buildings and commercial advertising. Ceasing of travel insurance policy sales. Login now. stars that point towards it. In 1867, New Zealand's flag was similar to the current version, the only difference being that the letters NZ appeared instead of the stars. To see the Southern Cross, one must be in the southern hemisphere, or at least as far south as 25°N, where the asterism is visible just above the southern horizon. It is The Southern … Along with affordable, quality education, your children will be able to get close to nature and enjoy a diverse range of healthy sport, recreation, and adventure activities. New Zealand is known for a lot of natural wonders, and Aurora Australis (The Southern Lights) has to be one of the most wonderful of all. The Southern Cross was an important navigational benchmark for sailors. who recognised the shape of a cross. It is really a spectroscopic binary system, consisting of two components that can’t be resolved with a telescope because they are too close together. Their surface temperatures are 28,000 and 26,000 K, and luminosities 25,000 and 16,000 times solar respectively. The four stars of the Southern Cross were also proposed, but were rejected as not being exclusively representative of New Zealand. Like Ursa Major, whose bright pointer stars show the way to the North Star, the Southern Cross can be used to find the location of the Southern Celestial Pole, and has been used by navigators for centuries. The companion is believed to be a main sequence star belonging to the spectral class B2. As well as being a national symbol, the Southern Cross is a name given to ships, planes, newspapers and companies. The representation of the Southern Cross signifies the location of New Zealand in the Pacific Ocean. The first documented example of discovery of the Southern Cross was found in Ancient Greece around 1000 BC. New Zealand Main Cities. In turn, Australians are still seeking new symbols. In the South Pacific the date line swings east such that Wallis and Futuna, Fiji, Tonga, and New Zealand's Kermadec Islands have the same date but Samoa is one day earlier. The star is classified as a semi-regular variable (SRV) with multiple periods. In areas of South Australia and Queensland the Southern Cross represents a sting ray. finding the direction south. The Coalsack earned the nickname “Black Magellanic Cloud” in the 16th century, apparently rivalling the prominence of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, the two dwarf irregular galaxies that shine brightly in the skies of the Southern Hemisphere. The purpose of the Southern Cross Medical Library is to provide information of a general nature to help you better understand certain medical conditions. The New Zealand flag displays the Southern Cross. Sources disagree about who was responsible for the separation, citing either the Dutch astronomer Petrus Plancius, who split the constellations in 1613, or the French astronomer Augustin Royer, who separated them in 1679. Although ENSO has an important influence on New Zealand’s climate, it accounts for les… the Milky Way galaxy. The Southern Cross is also featured prominently on the flags of several southern nations, including Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Samoa. So distinctive and evocative is the Southern Cross that the national flags of Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Samoa all include a representation of it. The New Zealand flag depicts only the four brightest stars of the Cross, while the banners of the other nations also include the faintest fifth star (known as Epsilon Crucis). Director of Pacific Technical Support / WHO Representative. It’s important to understand whether you qualify for the Visiting New Zealand travel insurance policy or not. The Blue Ensign The British colonies often chose—or were assigned—flags based on the Blue Ensign, once of the British Navy, then just one squadron of the navy, latterly of its associated civilian fleet. 56 talking about this. Southern Cross Benefits Limited has an A (Strong) financial strength rating given by Standard & Poor's (Australia) Pty Ltd. It continued to be used regularly in New Zealand well into the 1950s, instead of, or in tandem with the New Zealand flag. Perhaps the colonists identified with the Christian connotations, and the idea that god was somehow watching over Australia. At 570 light The Incas knew it as “Chakana,” meaning “stair,” and it played an important part in Incan mysticism, symbolizing the three tiers of the world: the heavens, the world of the living, and the underworld. A Southern Cross Healthcare Group survey into the living habits of Kiwis has revealed that almost a quarter of us already feel tired or fatigued every day, with this rising to 36% among people under 30. γ Crucis (Gamma Crucis), also known as Gacrux or HD 108903, is a red giant with the stellar classification M3.5 III. The New Zealand rugby team, the All Blacks, perform the haka before each match in a stunning show of strength and physical prowess. The Southern Cross is located near the larger constellation Centaurus, which surrounds it on three sides. ENSO influences rainfall, temperature, and wind patterns around the world, including New Zealand. Epsilon Crucis is also known as Intrometida, or “the intrusive one” in Portuguese. Access to the straits and … During de… Land has existed in the vicinity of New Zealand for most of the past 500 million years. The stars orbit each other every five years. It belongs to the spectral class B2 IV. δ Crucis (Delta Crucis), formally named Imai and sometimes known as Pálida (“the pale one” in Portuguese) has a visual magnitude of 2.79 and lies at a distance of around 345 light years from Earth. Our work in New Zealand. The Aborigines and the Maori saw the cross as symbolizing animist spirits that were integral in their ancestral beliefs. national flag consisting of a blue field with the Union Jack in the canton and four stars, forming the Southern Cross constellation, at the fly end. Southern Cross Medical Library. You can find the Southern Cross by the Pointers – two bright and high overhead, while on 1 October it is upside-down and low The Southern Cross But if you live south of the equator, it’s not the Big Dipper that people choose as their guide to the night sky. The Southern Cross carries significance across many southern countries and civilizations. The Southern Alps extend along much of the length of New Zealand’s South Island. The Southern Cross carries significance across many southern countries and civilizations. El Niño and La Niña are opposite phases of a naturally occurring global climate cycle known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO for short. Alpha-1 Crucis has a visual magnitude of 1.40 and Alpha-2 Crucis has a magnitude of 2.09. To the east of the Southern Alps is the r… Southern Cross and Coalsack Dark Nebula, image: Fedaro at wikipedia.org. The rating scale is: AAA (Extremely Strong) AA (Very Strong) A (Strong) BBB (Good) BB (Marginal) B (Weak) CCC (Very Weak) CC (Extremely Weak) SD or D (Selective Default or Default) R (Regulatory Supervision) NR (Not Rated). It is the second brightest star of the Southern Cross asterism. In Portuguese, the star is known as the Star of Magellan, or Estrela de Magalhães. Southern Alps, mountain range on South Island, New Zealand.It is the highest range in Australasia. So New Zealand has a unique reason to feel attachment to the Southern Cross and to claim it as a national icon. Further confusion was caused by the introduction of an International Code of Signals, which led to the adoption of a signalling flag in 1899. For example, on 1 April it is upright The X-shaped False Cross bears a slight resemblance to the Southern Cross and is oriented in approximately the same way, but the four stars – two belonging to the constellation Vela, the Sails, and two to Carina, the Keel – are located a bit farther to the north, and they do not point to the Southern Celestial Pole. Like Mimosa, Delta Crucis is believed to be a Beta Cephei-type variable. The width-to-length ratio of the flag is 1 to 2. Popular sports include rugby, cricket, football, netball, golf, basketball, hockey, tennis, and water sports such as sailing and surfing. The Alpha Crucis system has only two components that are visually distinguishable. Although there has been much debate about when and how Polynesians actually started settling New Zealand, the current understanding is that they migrated from East and central Polynesia, the Southern Cook and Society islands region. El Niño and La Niña episodes occur on average every few years and last up to around a year or two. The New Zealand flag displays the Southern Cross. star. It has a mass 8.9 times that of the Sun and is 10,000 more luminous. The North Island of New Zealand has a 'spine' of mountain ranges running through the middle, with gentle rolling farmland on both sides. New Zealand also uses its winter season for sporting activities such as skiing and snowboarding. The Coalsack is one of the most prominent dark nebulae visible to the unaided eye. To the ancient Egyptians, Crux was the place where the Sun Goddess Horus was crucified, and marked the passage of the winter season. This information is not intended to relate specifically to insurance or healthcare services provided by Southern Cross. It lies at a distance of 228 light years from the solar system. The two stars are separated by four seconds of arc. national symbol, the Southern Cross is a name given to ships, The Australian and New Zealand flags are “defaced” with the stars of the Southern Cross, a constellation visible from their positions in the southern hemisphere. It is a hot, massive blue-white subgiant star currently in the process of becoming a red giant. It was named by 16th-cenury European explorers, The Aborigines and the Maori saw the cross as symbolizing animist spirits that were integral in their ancestral beliefs. Richard Hinckley Allen, a 19th century expert in stellar nomenclature, noted that the stars of the Southern Cross were last visible on the horizon in Jerusalem around the time that Christ was crucified. Maggy Wassilieff, 'Southern Cross', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/southern-cross (accessed 19 January 2021), Story by Maggy Wassilieff, published 12 Jun 2006. Following a line from Alpha to Beta Centauri will take you near Gamma Crucis, the top star in the cross asterism. Interestingly, the Southern Cross has been depicted on the flags of several different antipodean countries. New Zealand is a great place to start and raise a family. in the sky. Sports are important in the culture of New Zealand. My Southern Cross is our secure, online service that makes having and using your health insurance easy. But with the right conditions and the right location, the Aurora Australis will give you a night to remember. Issued 19 March 2020 2.25pm (NZDT) As of 19 March 2020 2.25pm (NZDT), we are temporarily ceasing to issue new travel insurance policies based on the advice of the New Zealand Government not to travel overseas.. WHO and EU join together to support COVID-19 response and systems strengthening in Asia. These cover areas as diverse as consumer protection, employment, property and building, occupational regulation and human rights. 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