Star profile
Zeta Crucis
Hot blue starWhat is Zeta Crucis
Zeta Crucis burns within the small yet iconic Southern Cross, astral emblem of half a hemisphere. It is a hot blue B-type star, with a surface temperature several times that of the Sun and a far greater radiance. Its light has been crossing space for nearly 358 years —an adolescent glow, in cosmic terms, caught between the great vertices of a constellation that steered generations of navigators.
Where it is and when to see it
Zeta Crucis lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is May: the Sun sits at the opposite point of the sky and the star culminates around midnight. How high it climbs above the horizon depends on the latitude you watch from.
It opens in your browser. Free, no account, nothing to install.
The signature wall
Stelvia's sky works like a signature wall: anyone can leave their name and a message on a real star, and that signature goes up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.
A signature without a lock can be replaced by someone else's. The lock makes the signature permanent and lets you choose a symbolic name for the star, always shown next to the star's catalogue identifier. How the lock works
If you don't have an account yet, we'll ask for an email to confirm it's you: we send you a link and that's it, no password.
A public signature from a real person. The chosen name is a symbolic denomination within Stelvia, with no official standing or IAU recognition: the sky is not for sale and belongs to no one.
Astronomical data for Zeta Crucis
- Constellation
- Crux
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.06
- Distance
- 357.7 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 184.609° · Dec -64.003°
- Catalogue
- HIP 60009 · HD 106983
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Crux
Crux has 32 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- AcruxAlpha 1 Crucis0.77
- MimosaBeta Crucis1.25
- GacruxGamma Crucis1.59
- ImaiDelta Crucis2.79
- GinanEpsilon Crucis3.59
- Mu 1 Crucis4.03
- Eta Crucis4.14
- Theta 1 Crucis4.32