The EYE ON THE SKY® AstroCruises Crystal Cruises Page
edited by Dan Benedict
Watch this space for notices of EYE ON THE SKY® AstroCruises on Crystal Cruises!
Book through AstroCruises Travel for free membership in AstroCruisers (TM) astronomy club
and other agency discounts, value-added bonuses and special deals.
Southern Hemisphere Double Comet Cruise
April 6-May 2, 2004
Crystal Serenity, Cape Town to Ft. Lauderdale World Voyage IV: Africa to the Americas
Sail from Cape Town, South Africa Tuesday, April 6
Itinerary: Walvis Bay, Namibia; Jamestown, St. Helena; Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Brazil; Bridgetown, Barbados; Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands; seventeen sea days
Arrive in Ft. Lauderdale Sunday, May 2
Bright comets Q4 (NEAT) and T7 (LINEAR) both predicted at second magnitude; see all 21 first-magnitude stars in one night and qualify for 21 Club; see 26 new constellations created when European astronomers first charted the stars of the southern hemisphere; latitude and stars change almost 75° — Southern Cross and Big Dipper both circumpolar this cruise (with New York disembarkation); new moon April 19. Bring your binoculars!
Ocean-view stateroom from $11,145* ppdo (fixed Virtuoso rate) includes port charges of $430; suggested gratuities add $263; bonuses include $200 onboard credit, AstroCruises astronomy kit and exclusive Virtuoso Voyager Club shore excursions scheduled in Rio de Janeiro and Barbados; Brazilian tourist visa required for U. S. citizens. Significant savings from published fares of $18,290* ppdo to $60,835* ppdo. Additional discount for previous Crystal passengers. Optional disembarkation in New York City May 5. Contact us for current best AstroCruises (TM) deal.
* Note that all fares are per person, double occupancy ("ppdo"), and that gratuities, taxes and government fees are sometimes but not always included in published fares (and sometimes the country of disembarkation charges a separate departure tax which may or may not be included in your air fare). Airline flights and transfers are usually not included, and travel insurance is optional. Passport and visas, if required, are the responsibility of passenger. Fares, fees, itineraries and programs are accurate as of last update but are subject to change without notice. Contact us directly for details and for the current best AstroCruises (TM) discounts, deals and bonuses.
Why Shipboard Stargazing?
A dark sky at sea gives an excellent opportunity to spot dim objects such as the Milky Way,
Andromeda Galaxy (two million light-years away, the farthest object visible to the naked eye), the zodiacal light and gegenschein, and faint meteors and satellites. A sea level horizon is the best place to see the green flash.
Here are some Web sites with information on topics we discussed during the lectures and starwatches on Crystal Cruises:
Tonight's Sky
The most interesting sights you can see with the naked eye in the current sky are listed in:
For a graphical display of the night sky as seen from your home, you have several good options:
- You can generate custom sky charts at Heavens-Above and Sky & Telescope by entering either a place name or your latitude and longitude.
- For locations in the U.S. you can find latitudes and longitudes (in degrees/minutes/seconds) through the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Remember that locations in the U. S. are always "north" latitude and "west" longitude. For locations outside the U.S. you can find latitudes and longitudes through the Alexandria Digital Library.
- You can also generate a customized sky map at the Your Sky: Sky Map Custom Settings page at http://www.fourmilab.to/yoursky/custom.html. You'll need to enter your latitude and longitude in the Observing Site boxes in either decimal degrees or degrees/minutes/seconds, remembering locations in the U. S. are always "north" latitude and "west" longitude. For maps that are easier to read, change the defaults in the Display Options to the following:
- Uncheck Deep Sky Objects box
- Uncheck Constellations-Boundaries box
- Change value in Show Stars Brighter Than Magnitude to "3.5"
- Change value in Stars-Names for Magnitude to "1.5 and brighter"
- Uncheck Stars-Bayer/Flamsteed Codes box
- Click the [Update] button and then bookmark the resulting page in your Web browser so you don't have to repeat this step every time.
For high precision moon phase information and sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset and civil twilight times for your city, go to:
For all types of celestial information for your specific location, you can use:
Satellites
To find out about when and where to look for satellites at your home, go to (and then bookmark after entering your location):
To find out how to watch for satellites, go to:
All space shuttle launches are under review following the loss of the orbiter Columbia February 1, 2003. The latest information about shuttle schedules is on the Kennedy Space Center's Page at:
Meteor Showers
The American Meteor Society furnishes information about these (and other) meteor showers here:
- Quadrantids (peak January 3-4)
http://comets.amsmeteors.org/meteors/showers/quadrantids.html
- Perseids (peak August 12-13)
http://comets.amsmeteors.org/meteors/showers/perseids.html
- Leonids (peak November 17-18)
http://comets.amsmeteors.org/meteors/showers/leonids.html
- Geminids (peak December 13-14)
http://comets.amsmeteors.org/meteors/showers/geminids.html
Eclipses
Information about future eclipses can be found at:
Atmospheric Phenomena
Cruises also offer excellent opportunities to observe daytime sky phenomena, such as described on these sites:
Green Flash
The most complete source of information I've found about the "green flash" is:
General Astronomy News
For the latest astronomy and space news, try:
You can receive Weekly News Bulletin and Skywatcher's Bulletin from Sky &Telescope via e-mail.
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Goddard Space Flight Center posts a new image every day at:
Thanks again for joining EYE ON THE SKY® AstroCruises on Crystal Cruises, and we hope to sail with you again soon! Bon voyage!
Copyright 2003 EYE ON THE SKY® News Service. All rights reserved.
EYE ON THE SKY® is a registered trademark of EYE ON THE SKY® News Service.
The address of this page is
http://astrocruises.com/crystalcruises
AstroCruises Travel can be reached at
1-800-873-0050 ext. 250 or (609) 530-9877, or at
eyeonthesky@compuserve.com
®