Star
Gacrux
Red star · M4III
γ Crux · Crux
Photo: Nova Dawn Astrophotography · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Gacrux is the third-brightest star in the southern constellation of Crux, the Southern Cross. It has the Bayer designation Gamma Crucis, which is Latinised from γ Crucis and abbreviated Gamma Cru or γ Cru. With an apparent visual magnitude of +1.63, it is the 26th brightest star in the night sky. A line from the two "Pointers", Alpha Centauri through Beta Centauri, leads to within 1° north of this star. Using parallax measurements made during the Hipparcos mission, it is 88.6 light-years distant. It is the nearest M-type red giant star.
Description from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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Key facts
Distance
~88.6 light-years
Apparent mag.
+1.59
Spectral type
M4III
Luminosity
148 × Sun
Absolute mag.
−0.58
Catalogue
HIP 61084
Spectral type
M4III
True colour from its B–V index (1.60): a surface around 3600 K.
Did you know
- Gacrux is also known as γ Crux.
- Its spectral type M4III marks it as a red star.
- It lies in the constellation Crux.
