About Gacrux
Gacrux is a common star. It lies about 88.6 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Cru, shines at apparent magnitude 1.59 and has spectral type M4III.
Notable enough to have earned a proper name, not just a catalogue number.
Common star 19 EP
Gacrux
RA 187.7914° · Dec -57.1132° · star
Score breakdown
· 3 badgesCommon 24 pts → Uncommon
- Naked-eye visible +8
- Has a proper name +8
- Star +3
Total score 19
5 more points to reach Uncommon.
Badges
- Star · +3
- Naked-eye visible · +8
- Has a proper name · +8
Trivia
Could we get there?
- Verdict. Hopelessly far for any craft humanity can build today.
Getting there
- Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 1.6 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
- Fastest probe ever. ≈ 138.3 thousand years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.
- At 10% light speed. ≈ 886 years in a starship at a tenth of light speed.
- Distance. 88.6 light-years from Earth.
Look-back time
- Look-back time. The light you'd see left around the year 1937.
Saying hello
- Say hello. A radio message and its reply would take 177 years round-trip.
How we found it
- Named. Notable enough to have earned a proper name, not just a catalogue number.
Properties
- absmag
- -0.579
- bv
- 1.6
- constellation
- Cru
- dist ly
- 88.5572
- mag
- 1.59
- name
- Gacrux
- named
- yes
- spect
- M4III
How to see it
Look for Gacrux in the constellation Cru. At apparent magnitude 1.59, it can be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies.
Like any astronomical target, Gacrux is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.
Why Gacrux is a common star
Gacrux scores 19 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 5 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 3 science badges — Star, Naked-eye visible and Has a proper name — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.