What can you say about the Southern Cross?
The Southern Cross, or the constellation Crux, located near Right Ascension
12hours 44minutes and Declination -59 degrees, consists
of 4 bright stars which include Acrux a the 'top', Gamma Crucis at the bottom
and Mimosa ( Beta) and Delta Crucis on the 'cross piece'. It is located near
one of the brightest regions of the Milky Way which also harbors one of the
largest dark clouds called for centuries the Coal Sack. So striking is this
small cruciform constellation, and its proximity to the dark Coal Sack, that
seafarers used to 'cross' themselves whenever they gazed at this part of the
sky. The stars in Crux are between 200 and 500 light years distant, and are
giant stars, each several thousand times more luminous that our own Sun.
Copyright 1997 Dr. Sten Odenwald
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