driving into the sunrise

This morning i saw Saturn high overhead as i waited to take friends to the airport, and the Big Dipper to the north. Coming back from the airport, facing the sunrise, the waning crescent moon was exquisitely superimposed on the sky. It's two days until new moon, and the edge of dark right side was just barely surrounded by pale light, as if sunlight was escaping around the edge.

When i moved to Cameroon, i missed the familiar constellations of the higher northern hemisphere. No Cassiopeia--too many city lights at that edge of the horizon. No Polaris. Sometimes the Big Dipper was visible, but it was usually obscured by the same light problem Cassiopeia had. Sometimes i'd point out Orion and Sirius to my friends as we enjoyed the cool night breeze on our roof, or Saturn as it passed overhead. I think i saw the Southern Cross. (That was a nifty advantage of living near the equator--seeing the Big Dipper and the Southern Cross from the same roof.)

Maybe the fact that i didn't look up and learn the constellations around me indicates that i really didn't see myself being there permanently. They weren't entirely different--i was still in the northern hemisphere, albeit by only 3.8 degrees. It wouldn't have been that difficult, especially using this fantastic website.