Caption: Winner in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns.   This image was taken in February 2020 in the Coquimbo Region along the northern coast of Chile. It is one of the best places on Earth for astronomical observations, thanks to its clear skies, lack of light pollution and lack of precipitation, as it is close to the Atacama desert, one of the driest places on our planet. It is no coincidence that many of the most modern professional observatories are located here. The picture shows prominent patterns visible in the southern latitudes, containing rich cultural significance for various Indigenous groups of the southern world. In the bottom of the image towards the right, the Southern Cross is prominent. The orange star at the top of the Southern Cross is called Gacrux (gamma crux). The people in Chile celebrate the beginning of winter at the beginning of May when the constellation Crux is high up in the sky; for them it is a symbol of the start of the cold season. For the festival of the Cruz de Mayo (the Great Cross), they put candles next to crosses in their villages when the constellation Crux is high. As in Christianity, the four endpoints (stars) of the cross symbolise the cardinal virtues. For some indigenous Chileans, they represent the fundamental cultural principles: force, reciprocity, wisdom, and spirituality. Unlike modern constellations that are arrangements of several stars, Indigenous peoples sometimes associate stories with individual stars. In the case of the Southern Cross for example, the Boorong, Djab Wurrung and Jardwadjali peoples of Australia refer to the star Gacrux as Bunya (the ring-tailed possum). From the Southern Cross to the left of the image are two bright stars, these are called the pointer stars (as they point to the Southern Cross). The Djab Wurrung and Jardwadjali people refer to the pointer stars as the Bram-bram-bult brothers, who hunted and killed the giant Emu Tchingal. Alpha Centauri, which is the brighter and whiter of the two pointer stars, is the closest star to the Sun that we can see with our eyes, located just over four light-years away. To the bottom left of the Southern Cross is a dark nebula, which the Indigenous Australians see as the head of the Emu Tchnigal (the Coalsack Nebula). The pointers are located on the neck of the Emu. The image also shows two other IAU constellations, Centaurus (The Centaur) and Lupus (The Wolf), and HII regions of the Eta Carina Nebula (seen in pink).
Credit: Uwe Reichert/IAU OAE

Caption: Winner in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns.   This image, taken from the Avenue of Baobabs, Morondava, Madagascar, in July 2017, shows the majestic band of the Milky Way, our home galaxy, together with a rich collection of constellations and asterisms: Crux, Centaurus, Scorpius, Sagittarius and the Teapot asterism. Towards the bottom left of the image we can see the Southern Cross and the pointer stars Alpha (the brighter of the two) and Beta Centauri, which help to distinguish it from similar-looking configurations. Some cultures in Africa associate the Southern Cross with a giraffe, while others associate the constellations with a pride of lions or even with the Tree of Life. Antares, the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius, is the orange-red star straight up from the middle baobab tree. To the Pokomo people from southwestern Kenya, Africa, the Milky Way is associated with the smoke emanating from a campfire lit by ancient people. The various people in South Africa, in contrast, have different star tales; the Khoikhoi from the region around Cape Town explained the colours of the red and white stars as red and white roots that were roasted on a fire and thrown towards the sky together with the ashes of the fire. The Xhosa from further east consider the Milky Way the raised bristle of a huge angry dog, while the Zulu from near Johannesburg interpret it as a stream of spears of their strongest warriors. Polynesian people, who were adept seafarers and navigators, see the constellation Scorpius as a fish hook, and refer to it as the demigod Maui’s Fish Hook. For the Djab Wurrung and the Jardwadjali people, the Southern Cross is part of a Dreamtime Story involving Tchingal, the Bram-bram-bult brothers (the pointer stars), their mother Druk (Delta Crux), and Bunya, the hunter who gets changed into a possum (Gacrux, red star at the top of the Southern Cross). In this image, the planets Saturn (the bright point above Antares) and Jupiter (the bright point at the bottom-right of the image close to the trunk of the baobab tree) are visible. Indigenous cultures have various stories associated with the planets, for example Kamilaroi and Wailan people associate Saturn with wunygal, a small bird. The Boorong people of Western Victoria associate Jupiter with Ginabongbearp, the chief of the old spirits (Nurrumbunguttias), who takes the totemic form of the sulphur-crested white cockatoo.
Credit: Amirreza Kamkar/IAU OAE

Caption: 2022年國際天文學聯合會（IAU）OAE天文攝影比賽靜態天體圖案類別獲獎作品。 這張照片2016年7月拍攝於肯尼亞安博塞利國家公園，該公園位於赤道附近。 在北非的埃及神話中，銀河被看作神靈所航行的河流。南非的祖魯人將這種由明暗星雲組成的圖案解釋為一種皮膚黑白相間的動物，而南非的科伊科伊人和桑人則認為它是“星路”。在南非的一些文化中，銀河的拱門是一位母神創造的通往天堂的道路——這是19世紀的早期人類學研究所采納的一個南非創世神話，但這一神話如今已經消失。 在照片的右中部，我們可以看到現代天蠍座中明亮的紅色恆星心宿二。照片左上角邊緣是白色的織女星，開普敦附近的人認為它是雄性的駿馬。 澳大利亞原住民對銀河有很多稱呼。澳大利亞北領地阿納姆地區的約爾努（Yolnu）人稱呼銀河為“Milnguya”，意為“天河”。這張照片中的一個突出圖案與銀河的明暗區域對比有關。 這些暗區是由星際塵埃和氣體組成的低溫緻密雲團，阻擋了其背後恆星發出的光線。其中一個突出的圖案被澳大利亞南部幾個土著民族稱為“Tchingal”，意為“天上的鸸鹋”。鸸鹋的頭部和嘴部（即煤袋星雲）位於南十字座（照片右下角）的左下方，身體和腿部則從南十字座向左延伸。其他原住民群體則將暗區與洞穴或水道聯繫在一起。鸸鹋一年四季的朝向提供了重要的線索，表明什麼時候應該採集鸸鹋蛋，什麼時候鸸鹋蛋開始孵化。在某些月份，當這些銀河暗雲靠近地平線時，人們則認為它們不是鸸鹋，而是兩條匍匐前進的鱷魚。 在銀河系中心的上方，可以清楚地看到黑暗的菸斗星雲的現代形象。銀河上方那顆橙紅色的恆星是天蠍座的心宿二，而菸斗的煙霧可以到達心宿二旁邊色彩斑斕的蛇夫座ρ區域。波隆人把心宿二稱為“Djuit”，意為“紅腰鸚鵡”；而西部沙漠的科卡塔人則把心宿二稱為“Kogolongo”，意為“紅尾黑鳳頭鸚鵡”。 此外，照片中還可以看到一些著名的星座：天鵝座、天鷹座、天琴座、天蠍座、人馬座、南十字座和半人馬座。在南非的一些傳統中，指針星——半人馬座α星（南門二）和β星（馬腹一）偶爾被視為野獸的眼睛。
Credit: Amirreza Kamkar/IAU OAE

Caption: 2022年國際天文學聯合會（IAU）OAE天文攝影比賽靜態天體圖案類別榮譽獎作品。 這張照片於2016年3 月在印度尼西亞爪哇島的婆羅摩騰格塞梅魯國家公園拍攝，展現了銀河形成的拱橋和許多突出的星座，包括了夜空中最顯著的亮星。 在照片左下角，我們可以看到南門二和馬腹一，前者較低，後者較高，都位於的巨大的半人馬座中。可由它們的指引找到南十字座，南十字座的長軸指向南天極，而南天極大致位於地平線上，這是因為爪哇島幾乎位於赤道上。南十字座幾乎完全被雲層遮擋，照片中只能看到四顆明亮的星星。而南船座中的恆星組成的贗十字星群，在稍遠處的銀河上方也明顯可見，容易使人混淆。 真正的南十字座和贗十字星群之間的粉紅色斑點是船底座星雲，距離地球約8500光年，位於船底座，肉眼看不到。在船底座，我們還可以看到夜空中第二亮的恆星——老人星，它就在銀河和地面道路之間。 更亮的是天狼星，夜空中最亮的恆星。天狼星位於大犬座，大犬座是獵戶座的兩隻獵犬之一。獵戶座在照片的右半部分，地平線附近雲層的上方。獵戶座的腰帶上有三顆明亮的恆星，其連線左上指向天狼星，右下指向堪堪露出地平線的畢宿五。 獵戶座包含了天空中最亮的幾顆恆星，是色彩最豐富的星座，因為它擁有參宿七——銀河下方靠右的一顆藍色亮星，以及參宿四——參宿七右上方較高位置的一顆紅色亮星。在它們之間，三顆恆星組成了著名的星群——獵戶座腰帶。獵戶座大星雲就在獵戶座腰帶旁邊，這是一個恆星形成區，其明亮的中心即便用肉眼看也清晰可見，在這張照片中也是如此清晰。 在參宿四的上方，銀河的另一側，可以看到明亮的南河三，其英文名稱Procyon的字面意思是”在狗之前“。在希臘神話中，它被看作由單顆恆星組成的星群，是與獵戶座相伴的小獵犬，後來演變成了現代的小犬座。 在照片右上角，巨蟹座的蜂巢星團很容易辨認。在其下方，可以看到雙子座的北河二和北河三，它們在這張照片中並不顯眼。與之形成鮮明對比的是，御夫座的明亮白色恆星五車二，在照片右邊緣中部的雲層中閃閃發光。 在地面道路周圍可以看到一些光汙染。
Credit: Giorgia Hofer/IAU OAE

Caption: Honourable mention in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns: Equatorial Milky Way   Taken in Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park, Java Island, Indonesia, in March 2016, this image captures regions of the southern Milky Way and, at its left edge, the two planets Mars and Saturn. Mars appears orange and is similar in colour to the star Antares, whose Greek name — anti Ares — references this. Saturn is a little bit fainter than Mars, but clearly visible among the stars of Ophiuchus, above the Pipe Nebula and forming an isosceles triangle with Mars and Antares. Mars is on the top and Saturn is vertically below. Visible to the naked eye, both planets have significance in many cultures around the world. In Roman mythology Mars is the god of war and fertility, and Saturn the god of sowing and agriculture. Its Greek equivalent, the god Kronos, is also considered the regent of completion. Indigenous Australians, including the Kamilaroi and Wailan people, associate Saturn with “wunygal”, a small bird. Mars is called Iherm-penh (something burnt in flames) by the Anmatyerre people of the Central Desert, while the Kokatha people of the Western Desert associate Mars and the star Anatres with the red-tailed black cockatoo (Kogolongo). In the middle of this photograph, the most famous southern constellations are clearly recognisable: the Southern Cross (Crux), the pointer stars, Alpha and Beta Centauri, the dark Coalsack Nebula and the red Eta Carina Nebula, which is not visible to the unaided eye but is prominent in modern photographs. In the 19th century, the star eta Carinae had been the second-brightest star in the sky for some time, but since it varies irregularly, it has hardly been recognisable in recent decades, and its future visibility is unpredictable. Triangulum Australe is visible between the pointer stars and the Scorpion, and in the constellation of Centaurus, the bright globular star cluster Omega Centauri is clearly displayed. It was considered a “nebulous star” since antiquity and, thus, was listed in star catalogues for at least 2000 years. Only within the last century did astronomers discover that globular star clusters are in the halo of our galaxy and that this one consists of roughly 10 million stars. The dark regions in the Milky Way, which are cool, dense clouds of dust and gas, form the head and body of the Celestial Emu Tchingal. Together with the Southern Cross and the pointer stars, they appear in the Dreamtime stories of many Indigenous Australians. One story associated with the Djab Wurrung and the Jardwadjali people is part of a Dreamtime Story involving Tchingal, the Bram-bram-bult brothers (the pointer stars), their mother Druk (Delta Crux), and Bunya the hunter, who gets transformed into a possum (Gacrux, the red star at the top of the Southern Cross).
Credit: Giorgia Hofer/IAU OAE

Caption: Winner in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns.   The Milky Way and several astronomical objects are seen in this image taken from the southern hemisphere, in Anglers Reach, Australia, in April 2022. On the bottom-left side we can identify the constellation Scorpius with its brightest star, Antares, the reddish spot just above the arc. Some prominent but small southern constellations can also be seen: the dominating bright stars in the middle-left of the image in the Milky Way are the four bright stars of Crux (the Southern Cross) and to its left the two pointer stars, alpha and beta Centauri. Crux points towards the southern celestial pole, which is not marked by a bright star, and The pointer stars point towards Crux, distinguishing it from the asterism of the False Cross in the constellation Argo. Crux features on the national flags of Australia, Brazil, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and New Zealand. As Crux lies in the brightest parts of the Milky Way, the dark cloud of the famous Coalsack Nebula is prominent next to the bright stars. It forms one of the dark constellations in South American, South African and Australian indigenous cultures. The huge Australian dark constellation of the Emu is almost completely above the horizon in this image, stretching from its head in the Coal Sack to the horizon. In Greek antiquity, the stars of Crux also belonged to the constellation Centaurus, a hybrid creature with a human torso and head attached to a horse body with four legs. The Greek centaur represents Chiron, the wise teacher of all Greek heroes. Its brightest star is Rigil Kentaurus (Alpha Centauri), the front hoof of the centaur. Just below it, we find the small constellation Triangulum Australe. The triple star system of Alpha Centauri is our Sun’s nearest stellar neighbour. Along the Milky Way in the middle-right of the picture we find the huge constellation Argo, the Ship. The smaller ancient constellation Argo was extended by Dutch navigators around 1600, and the number of stars in this constellation was then so big that the 18th-century French mathematician Lacaille needed to introduce subtitles for Argo in his star catalogue. In doing so, he invented the constellations Puppis, Carina and Vela. In Carina, the Keel of the ship, this reddish photograph clearly displays the Carina Nebula. At the right edge of the image we can spot the brightest star in the night sky, Sirius, while the second brightest star, Canopus, the rudder of Argo, the Ship, dominates the area under the arch of the Milky Way. Also below the Milky Way arc, we can see the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Small Magellanic Cloud, which are small satellite galaxies of our own Galaxy.
Credit: Lucy Yunxi Hu/IAU OAE

Caption: 這段視頻展示了銀河在茫茫星空中的璀璨光芒。在群星的大劇場中，南十字星座占據了一席之地，其獨特的十字形狀在本視頻的頂部可見，就在銀河系上方，稍微向右。隨著視頻的推進，南十字座慢慢消失在視野。這個天文記號是南半球的一個突出特徵，具有文化和導航意義，幾個世紀以來一直是航行路標。與銀河的壯觀相伴的是兩朵麥哲倫雲，它們是在遙遠天空中翩翩起舞的夥伴。船底座星雲為宇宙全景增添了空靈縹緲的光輝，在黑暗中描繪出一種璀璨的色調。在這場天體芭蕾中，溫和的綠色籠罩著大氣層，這種現象被稱為 "氣輝"，為夜空增添了一抹微妙的熒光。地面上也有飛機從頭頂飛過和車輛在天文臺建築之間行駛的景象。這幅延時攝影是從智利的拉西亞天文臺拍攝的，它是一扇通往迷人星舞的窗口，讓我們得以一窺銀河系令人驚嘆的美景和南天的地標。
Credit: José Rodrigues/IAU OAE (CC BY 4.0)

Caption: 這幅延時攝影作品拍攝於 2023 年 6 月從智利聖佩德羅德阿塔卡馬，展現了南十字星在夜空中壯麗的旅程，指引著南天極周圍的天空旋轉，直到它優雅地落下。滿天繁星的畫布展示了銀河的壯麗，以及圍繞南天極旋轉的大麥哲倫雲和小麥哲倫雲。顯著的星座包括十字、半人馬座、天蠍座和以前的阿爾戈船座（船尾座、帆座、船座）也都可見。整個景象在夜幕降臨後不久開始，捕捉到坎普斯星的耀眼下降，這顆明亮的星星即將沉入地平線。在序列中，可以隱約看到經過的飛機、閃爍的汽車車燈、漂浮的雲朵以及神祕的空氣輝光。在一個驚豔的時刻，一顆流星劃過天空，璀璨的火球在大約第41秒時短暫點亮畫面的右下角。隨著序列的發展，升起的月亮優雅地照亮了風景，把光輝灑在靜臥於阿塔卡馬鹽灘乾燥塵土中的古老樹幹上。這段迷人的夜空之旅在黎明前結束，提供了一瞥交織在聖佩德羅·阿塔卡瑪夜晚風景中的天體奇蹟。
Credit: Uwe Reichert/IAU OAE (CC BY 4.0)

Caption: 這段延時攝影視頻捕捉到了來自世界不同角落的兩個標誌性星座，一段跨越了多個大陸的宇宙之旅正在展開。從中國開始，北斗七星在夜空中熠熠生輝，作為文化敘事中的堅定向導，它的光芒標誌著這場漫長的天體征途的開始。北斗七星的勺口二星指向北極星，隨著星空的旋轉，北極星似乎保持靜止不動。在尼泊爾的崇山峻嶺中，北斗七星的熟悉感依然存在，在隨著地球的自轉而不斷變化的全景中，它是一個可靠的錨點。來到智利，南十字星點綴著蒼穹，象徵著南半球的星空。來自智利的畫面展現了銀河系映襯下的南十字星。在納米比亞，H.E.S.S.天文臺的望遠鏡出現在視頻中。隨後，在遮天蔽日的大樹下，北斗七星繼續在天體中熠熠生輝，與滿天繁星交相輝映。利用不同的技術——魚眼鏡頭、靜態相機和地球運動跟蹤，每一幀畫面都展現了南十字星在各種不同地景映襯下的壯麗景象。這些以星軌和地球自轉為標誌的序列，突出了北斗七星和南十字星的永恆存在，架起了跨越南北兩個半球的橋梁，溝通了世界文化，連通了天體之美。
Credit: Jianfeng Dai/IAU OAE (CC BY 4.0)

Caption: The constellation Crux (commonly known as the Southern Cross or Crux Australis) showing its bright stars and surrounding constellations. The Southern Cross is surrounding by (going clockwise from the top) Centaurus, Carina and Musca. The brightest star is alpha Crucis which appears at the bottom of the constellation's famous kite shape. The Southern Cross is visible from southern and equatorial regions of the world. In more southerly parts of the world it is circumpolar so is always above the horizon. In other parts of the southern hemisphere and in equatorial regions it is most visible in the evenings in the southern hemisphere autumn. The yellow circles show the locations of two open clusters, NGC 4755 (known as the Jewel Box) and NGC 4609. The line joining gamma and alpha Crucis (the third and first brightest stars in the Southern Cross) points in the approximate direction of the South Celestial Pole. This has led to the Southern Cross playing an important role in celestial navigation, allowing navigators from different astronomical traditions to find their bearings. The y-axis of this diagram is in degrees of declination with north as up and the x-axis is in hours of right ascension with east to the left. The sizes of the stars marked here relate to the star's apparent magnitude, a measure of its apparent brightness. The larger dots represent brighter stars. The Greek letters mark the brightest stars in the constellation. These are ranked by brightness with the brightest star being labeled alpha, the second brightest beta, etc., although this ordering is not always followed exactly. The dotted boundary lines mark the IAU's boundaries of the constellations and the solid green lines mark one of the common forms used to represent the figures of the constellations. Neither the constellation boundaries, nor the lines joining the stars appear on the sky.
Credit: Adapted by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education from the original by IAU/Sky & Telescope.