Southern Cross Night Sky Object Finder

Observational Presets

★ Drag sky reticle or click target star to hop from Gacrux.

Time (UTC): 20:00

Observer Lat:

FOV Zoom:

Star-Hopping Vector From Gacrux (γ Cru)

Direction: Right (East/North-East)

Angular Separation: 12.4°

Hop Path: Gacrux ➔ Target

Identified Celestial Body STAR SYSTEM

Alpha Centauri

Rigil Kentaurus / α Cen (Mag -0.27)

Apparent Mag -0.27 (Brilliant)

Distance 4.37 light-years

Constellation Centaurus

Spectral Class G2V + K1V

Right Ascension 14h 39m

Declination -60° 50′

Alpha Centauri is the closest star system to the Sun. In the Southern Hemisphere, following a line to the right from Gacrux across Hadar leads straight to Alpha Centauri—the famous Southern Pointer star!

Observational Context

When observers look to the right of Gacrux (the top star of Crux), they typically identify Alpha Centauri (magnitude -0.27) or prominent evening planets like Venus (-4.2) or Jupiter (-2.6) as they pass near the Milky Way plane.