WWW.ASTRONOMY.COM 49
BACK IN MY YOUTH, one of the
astronomers I had the good fortune to
befriend was the great Bart Bok (1906–
1983). This was near the end of his life,
long after he had revolutionized our
understanding of the Milky Way Galaxy.
Bart and his wife Priscilla studied the
Milky Way from the 1920s onward, the
journey stretching from Bart’s native
Netherlands to Harvard University,
Mexico, South Africa, Australia, and to
their final home, Tucson and the
University of Arizona.
Bart and Priscilla really became mas-
ters of the Milky Way, understanding our
galaxy better than anyone else at the
time, and wrote their famous book The
Milky Way, which went through five edi-
tions, beginning in 1941. My inscribed
copy of the book is a prized possession.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, when
you would talk to Bart about deep-sky
observing, he would periodically inter-
ject, with a twinkle in his eye, “Just
remember that all the good stuff is in
the southern sky.”
His statement wasn’t terribly far off
from reality. Despite the fact that only
about 15 percent of the human popula-
tion lives in the Southern Hemisphere,
more than half of the brightest, largest,
and most dazzling clusters, nebulae, and
galaxies are in the southern sky. And so
they can only be seen best, or at all, on a
trip to the south. That conundrum has
set up one of the great pilgrimages in
amateur astronomy — traveling to the
Southern Hemisphere at least once, or
maybe a few times, in one’s observing life.
As it turns out, Astronomy magazine
conducts regular trips for our readers,
often to eclipses, but to other astronomi-
cal and historically interesting places. For
the past two years, we’ve put on a south-
ern sky observing trip to Costa Rica in
partnership with our colleagues at
TravelQuest International. It is a spec-
tacular journey. Our last such venture
took place in late February and early
March 2019, and we will take a group of
intrepid observers to Costa Rica again in
early spring 2020. I’m the regular trip
astronomer on these journeys, and so I
can tell you about what a great experience
it is to see the southern sky’s best objects
and also to enjoy an amazing place.
What makes Costa Rica such an
incredible base for southern stargazing?
Our observing site is a large, magnificent
plantation far from city lights that serves
as a comfortable station. We are the only
group on its 800 acres, are dedicated to
stargazing, and have comfortable lodge
units of our own. The site rests on the
Gulf of Nicoya, north of Punta Arenas, at
a latitude of 10° N. This places us 15° far-
ther south than the Florida Keys and sit-
uates us at a great latitude to see all of the
magnificent treasures of the deep south-
ern sky. Our ventures to the site of course
coincide with the New Moon, giving us
dark-sky gazing opportunities fornebulae and galaxies. And Costa Rica, in
Central America, is easily reached for
Americans — it’s only a two-and-a-half-
hour f light from Miami, for example.
The plantation also hosts incredible
wildlife. More than 150 species of birds
inhabit the area, making it a world-class
birding location. And we have critters on
the plantation ranging from monkeys in
the trees to crocodiles in the lagoon.
Each morning, guides take us around the
plantation on birdwatching and creature-
viewing forays. Daytime recoveries from
late night observing feature a who’s who
of amazing animals that would make
David Attenborough smile.
Next year’s foray into the Costa Rican
wilderness, with stars glimmering
overhead, will take place February 23–
March 1. See the sidebar on page 51 for
information on how to join us there.The Carina Nebula (NGC 3372) is perhaps the greatest showpiece of the Southern Hemisphere sky. Far
larger and brighter than the Orion Nebula, it is a spectacle for anyone who sees it for the first time. This
image shows the nebula’s inner sanctum. R. JAY GABANYLEFT: Centerpiece of the deep southern sky, Crux
the Southern Cross is visible at center in this wide-
field image. Below and left of the cross are the bright
stars Alpha (left) and Beta Centauri. Alpha and its
red dwarf companion, Proxima Centauri, make up
the closest star system to the Sun. The Carina
Nebula edges into this image on the right. LUKE DODD