Constellations.

In Warsaw, on any given night, there are anywhere between 3 and 5 working street lights. This means that I can see approximately 1000 times more stars than I can see on a clear night in Guelphcity. Whenever I'm here I spend a lot of time looking skyward in the evenings. I've always been interested in the stars and patterns in the night sky. I'm really looking forward to seeing the other side of things in the Southern Hemisphere. I've done a bit of research into the constellations visible in the southern skies.

First off, I thought I would try to understand how far away from the equator each of the areas I am visiting are located. This way I can figure out which parts of the sky I will be able to see.

Toronto, Ont., Can. 43 40N 79 24W 12:00 noon EST
Vancouver, B.C., Can. 49 13N 123 06W 9:00 a.m. EST
Auckland, New Zealand 36 52S 174 45E 5:00 a.m. EST the following day
Wellington, New Zealand 41 17S 174 47E 5:00 a.m. EST the following day
Perth, Australia 31 57S 115 52E 1:00 a.m. EST the following day
Sydney, Australia 34 0S 151 0E 3:00 a.m. EST the following day
Los Angeles, Calif. 34 3N 118 15W 9:00 a.m. EST

In Warsaw, the patterns I notice are the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper, Cassiopeia, the Milky Way, and the Northern Lights. I used to know more of them, but I stopped paying such close attention awhile ago.

I found this free monthly star map from the Sydney Observatory, so when I'm down south I'll be able to pick out some constellations we can't see in the Northern Hemisphere.