The Southern Cross, also known as Crux, is one of the most recognizable constellations of the southern hemisphere. As a child, it was the only constellation I was aware of and could find in the night sky. I expect this was the case for many growing up in the southern hemisphere. It forms part of national identities, featuring on national flags for Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea. It's also very bright and easy to find in the night sky and provides a simple method (in conjunction with the "2 pointers" of Alpha & Beta Centauri) to find true south in the absence of a "Polaris" like polar star.
The five components of the Southern Cross are Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon Crucis:
- Alpha Crucis (Acrux) is a triple star system at magnitude 0.8 forming the bottom of the cross
- Beta Crucis (Mimosa) to the left is another triple star and the second brightest point at mag 1.3
- Gamma Crucis (Gacrux) at the top is an optical double star with the primary being mag 1.6 red giant
- Delta Crucis (Imai) to the right is mag 2.8 and completes the crossbar
- Epsilon Crucis (Ginan) is mag 3.6 and sits just below the crossbar
The image was taken using a Nikon D750 set to ISO800 with a Samyang 135mm lens set to f2.8.
Having lots of fun learning to use ZWO AM5 portable mount with an ASIAIR Plus to manage the imaging.
Looking forward to taking this portable setup to some nightscape locations.
Thanks for looking and CS!
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