Star profile
Kappa Crucis
Hot blue starWhat is Kappa Crucis
Kappa Crucis lent its name to one of the loveliest clusters in the southern sky: the Jewel Box, NGC 4755, found by Lacaille in 1751 and christened by John Herschel when he described it as «a superb piece of fancy jewellery». To the unaided eye it looks like a hazy star southeast of the Southern Cross; in a telescope it opens into a handful of blue supergiants beside a single ruby-red giant, all born of the same forming episode 14 million years ago.
Where it is and when to see it
Kappa 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.
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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
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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 Kappa Crucis
- Constellation
- Crux
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.89
- Distance
- 326200.0 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 193.454° · Dec -60.376°
- Catalogue
- HIP 62931 · HD 111973
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
- HIP 627325.71
- HIP 628945.75
- HIP 609695.78
- HIP 595175.91
- HIP 603085.91