The Milky Way as seen from Starland, South Africa
For my birthday, I went stargazing in South Africa’s Great Karoo—what a magical place! At almost 6,000 feet above sea level, its observatory is about as high as Colorado Springs. The Karoo has some of the darkest night skies in the world, making it home to the South African Astronomical Observatory and SALT—the Southern Hemisphere’s largest single optical telescope. It’s also why NASA chose the area for a deep-space antenna communicating with missions around the Moon. Best of all, our tour was at Sterland—Afrikaans for Starland, Ruby’s world in my book! Knowing me, I looked into the symbolism and discovered Sterland sits at 32 degrees south—a number that reduces to five, symbolizing adventure, discovery and change. ✨That night I spotted brilliant Venus, what appeared to be a beautiful double star, and even a shooting star racing across the sky. My favorite sight was what looked like a royal jewel box: a vivid blue star, a glowing red star, and a sparkling silver star lined up together. It was the perfect birthday gift from the universe!
Subscribe to my blog!
The Royal Jewel Box of the Southern Hemisphere
Stargazing was from 7-9pm
I’ve waited my whole life for this, even naming my blog ‘The Starlit Path’ in anticipation of this day!
The entrance to ‘Starland’
Everyone got a glass of sherry to warm up—temperatures drop to around 0 to 2°C!
A fire afterward warmed us up!
At around 1°C (34°F), it was one of the coldest nights I’ve spent outside!
Leave a Reply