I could hardly see anything through the viewfinder when I took the picture, so I was lucky to get what I did.

The Southern Cross (red) is one of the most recognizable constellations in the southern hemisphere. You'll find it on the flags of Australia and New Zealand. In the picture, the Southern Cross is on its side. The top of the cross is at about 4 o'clock, while the bottom is at about 10 o'clock.

Alpha Centauri (yellow) and Beta Centauri (blue) are also visible. As a pair, Alpha and Beta Centauri are called the "pointer stars" because they point to the Southern Cross. Alpha Centauri is the closest star to Earth, not including the sun. It is actually triple star system, so the closest star to Earth is one of those three stars at any given moment (I think it's Proxima Centauri right now).

The south celestial pole is on the left. It appears as if all of the stars in the night sky are rotating around it. In actuality, it is the Earth which is rotating underneath the stars. But since my camera is fixed to Earth, we get the illusion of celestial rotation. Draw a line directly down to the horizon from the south celestial pole and that is due south.

Explorers used to use the Southern Cross for navigation. To find due south, you can:

a) Draw an imaginary line between the two long axis stars of the Cross. Extend this line four and a half times times "down" (to lengthen the longer lower leg of the cross). You are now at the South Celestial Pole. Drop directly down to the horizon. This marks due south.

b) Draw an imaginary line between the two long axis stars of the Cross and continue it. Connect a line between the two pointestars, then draw a long line at right angles to the center of this line. Extend this long line to where it would intersect the line from the Southern Cross. Where these two lines cross, (the South Celestial Pole), drop to the horizon. This marks due south.

c) Get comfortable and watch the stars for about 3 hours. Find the spot on the sky around which all the stars seem to be rotating. Draw a line directly down to the horizon from the south celestial pole. This marks due south.