Star profile

Ginan

Epsilon Crucis · Crux

3D likeness based on its real data · class K · ~4,200 K

What is Ginan

Ginan is one of the names given by the Wardaman tradition of northern Australia to this orange star of the Southern Cross, formally adopted by the IAU as recognition of Aboriginal astronomy. At 230 light-years, its warm light travels for more than two centuries along the same path it followed when the first European navigators were attempting to chart the southern coasts with newly refined sextants.

Where it is and when to see it

Ginan lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is April: 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.

Find it on the sky map

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.

Write my signature

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 Ginan

Constellation: Crux
Apparent magnitude: 3.59
Distance: 229.9 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 185.340° · Dec -60.401°
Catalogue: HIP 60260 · HD 107446

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.

See all 32 stars in Crux