czsky/en/constellation/crux.md

name	created_by	created_date	updated_by	updated_date
Crux	skybber	2021-06-19 07:24:39.338129	skybber	2022-02-11 18:36:14.482314

The Southern Cross is the most famous constellation and symbol of the southern sky. As a separate constellation, it was probably first drawn on star charts by Portuguese seafarers in the 16th century, who needed some sort of landmark to help them locate the South Celestial Pole during their sea voyages. In areas north of the equator, the Polaris chart fulfils this function perfectly, showing almost exactly the location of the North Celestial Pole, the cardinal points and the latitude. In the southern hemisphere, however, we can no longer see the Arctic Circle and the North Celestial Pole, so we have to take a slightly different approach to orientation. We start from the conjunction of Toliman and Agent, the two brightest stars of Centaurus, which point to the true Southern Cross, thus not to be confused with the nearby False Cross, lying 45 degrees to the west. The longer arm of the Southern Cross, 4.5 times the superimposed distance of the stars α and γ Crucis, then points virtually into the starless region where the South Celestial Pole is located.

Small and distinctive, but invisible in our latitudes, the constellation of the southern sky. The brilliant stars form a typical cross pattern captured in the southern part of Centaurus. However, because it lies in one of the most beautiful and extraordinarily rich regions of the Milky Way, it does not stand out above its surroundings. We can admire a pair of very different objects in it - with the naked eye, note the striking dark region called the Coal Sack, while in the binocular, the sparkling open cluster of the Jewel Cluster around the star Kappa Crucis catches the eye.