We use cookies to deliver essential features and to measure their performance. Learn more.
Home
Search Objects
Major Solar System Objects
Comets
Asteroids
Spacecrafts
Star Maps
Orbits
public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 7:09 
Transit: 11:43 
Sunset: 16:18
sunny   (Daytime)  
What's Visible Now • Tonight Timeline
Search  close
All Constellations » Crux » 

Acrux - α1 Crucis (alpha1 Crucis)

Below the horizon.  Never rises today
Alt: -25.63°   Az: 189.10°   Direction: South

Acrux, also designated as α1 Crucis (alpha1 Crucis), is a multiple hypergiant star of spectral class B0 in the constellation of Crux.

Acrux visual magnitude is 1.33. Because of its brightness, Acrux is clearly visible to the naked eye when observed from locations with dark skies, and should be also quite easily visible from light polluted areas.

Image of Acrux - α1 Crucis (alpha1 Crucis) star
DSS2 image of Acrux. The red arrow shows the motion of Acrux during the next 10000 years (-6.00 arcmin in Right Ascension and -2.00 arcmin in declination);

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

12h 28m 00s
-63° 14’ 11”
01h 13m 48s
13h 41m 49s

J2000

12h 26m 35s
-63° 05’ 57”

Galactic Coordinates

300.13°
-0.36°

Finder Chart

Finder chart Acrux - α1 Crucis (alpha1 Crucis) star
Simplified finder chart for Acrux - α1 Crucis (alpha1 Crucis).

Magnitude, Color, Spectral Class

1.33
Hypergiant

-3.63
B0IV
14633K

The red dot in the diagram below shows where Acrux is situated in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram.

HR Diagram
H-R diagram showing the position of Acrux. Attribution: Richard Powell / CC BY-SA

Star System Properties

Acrux is a visual double star which can be observed with the help of small or medium telescopes. The table below shows key information about the Acrux double sysyem:

1.33
1.73
0.4
4.4 arcsec

Distance, Radial Speed, Proper Motion

Acrux is distant 320.55 light years from the Sun and it is moving towards the Sun at the speed of 11 kilometers per second.

98.33
320.55
-11 km/s
-0.036 arcsec/y
-0.012"/y

Alternative Designations

Acrux
α1 Crucis
(alpha1 Crucis)
SAO251904
SAO251904

Visibility from Your Location

Acrux - α1 Crucis (alpha1 Crucis) is currently not visible from Greenwich, UK