Strewth mate, where's the Southern Cross gone

Some of our Australian cobbers are learning that their view of the Southern Cross is changing – and the famous constellation now looks like the version on our flag and not their own.

The night sky in Sydney is now reported to be so bright from streetlights and other light pollution that one of the five stars in the famous constellation has faded from view and another is expected to be out of sight within five years.

The missing star, Epsilon Crucis, is the one that features on Australia's flag but not the New Zealand one, which is 40 years older.

The University of Canterbury's Mount John Observatory superintendent, Alan Gilmore, has warned Kiwis not to get too cocky because the samelight-pollution issues are becoming prevalent in New Zealand cities. "The Southern Cross gets very low in the sky at this time of year and I'd guess that there are probably places in Christchurch and other Canterbury cities where the sky is so bright you'd have some difficulty seeing all the stars," he said.

"It's really sad, but there's probably a whole generation of kids, and most of their parents, who have never seen the Milky Way.

"I had the experience of running the planetarium in Wellington in the late 1970s and you'd see a nice dark night sky and you'd get alot of kids asking what that misty glow was," Gilmore said.

Even the Mount John Observatory was under threat, with the Mackenzie District Council having to impose special planning restrictions to minimise the light pollution from nearby Tekapo township.

- © Fairfax NZ News