Your Guide to the Solar System and the Night Sky
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public Observing fromLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt
north SunriseRise: 4:46  
clear_day Transit: 12:57  
SunsetSet: 21:08 south
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All Constellations » Crux » 

ι Crucis (iota Crucis)

Altitude: -39.3°   Azimuth: 218.1°   Direction: South-West

ι Crucis is a double hypergiant star in the constellation of Crux.

ι Crucis visual magnitude is 4.69. Because of its moderate brightness, ι Crucis should be easily visible from locations with dark skyes, while it can be barely visible, or not visible at all, from skyes affected by light pollution.

The table below summarizes the key facts about ι Crucis:

4.69
Hypergiant

ι Crucis (iota Crucis) is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Altitude: -39.3°
Azimuth: 218.1°
Direction: South-West

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of ι Crucis

ι Crucis is situated south of the celestial equator, as such, it is more easily visible from the southern hemisphere. Celestial coordinates for the J2000 equinox as well as galactic coordinates of ι Crucis are provided in the following table:

12h 45m 37s
-60° 58’ 51”
302.23°
1.88°
Crux

The simplified sky map below shows the position of ι Crucis in the sky:

Finder chart ι Crucis (iota Crucis) star
Simplified finder chart for ι Crucis (iota Crucis).

Visibility of ι Crucis from your location

Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London

ι Crucis (iota Crucis) is currently not visible from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt

Digitized Sky Survey image of ι Crucis

The image below is a photograph of ι Crucis from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2 - see the credits section) taken in the red channel. The area of sky represented in the image is 0.5x0.5 degrees (30x30 arcmins). The proper motion of ι Crucis is 0.098 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.063 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 1000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of ι Crucis (iota Crucis) star
DSS2 image of ι Crucis. The red arrow shows the motion of ι Crucis during the next 1000 years (1.63 arcmin in Right Ascension and -1.05 arcmin in declination);

Distance of ι Crucis from the Sun and relative movement

ι Crucis is distant 124.57 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 7 kilometers per second.

38.21 pc
124.57 ly
7 km/s
0.098 arcsec/year
-0.063 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of ι Crucis

ι Crucis belongs to spectral class K0 and has a luminosity class of III corresponding to a hypergiant star.

1.78
K0III
4626K

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

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

ι Crucis star system properties

ι Crucis 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 ι Crucis double sysyem:

4.69
9.49
4.8
27.5 arcsec

Alternative designations of ι Crucis

ι Crucis
(iota Crucis)
SAO252016
SAO252016