- Stars with a name
- Gacrux
Gacrux
γ Crucis
Gacrux is a red giant, in the constellation Crux. The light you see from it tonight left it around 1937.
Where to find it
From mid-northern latitudes, such as New York, Rome or Tokyo, it never rises: it belongs to the southern sky.
Bright enough to see even from a city. Apparent magnitude 1.59.
What it’s like
It gives off 148 times as much light as the Sun.
Its surface temperature is about 3,400 degrees Celsius.
It is 88.6 light years away: 838 trillion kilometres.
It is the star of people born around 1937: the light that left it then is reaching Earth now.