Nature - Thinking Woman's Diary

Crux Australis

Written: 5th Jun 2004 | Last Updated: 6th Jun 2004

For those of us who call Australia home, there is a heavenly constellation most dear to our hearts. It is Crux, Crux Australis or simply The Southern Cross.

When we are home, it reminds us of who and what we are. When we are away, we long for it – that sparkling reminder of life in the antipodes. Its stars are treasures sewn into our flag - symbolising national character, history, bravery, accomplishment and hope.

The Southern Cross was once part of the constellation Centaurus, but astronomers and navigators of the 16th century considered the beautiful, latin cross a fine symbol of their faith and therefore worthy of a separate constellation. The general belief is that it was mathematically dissected from Centaurus and named Crux Australis by French astronomer Augustin Royer in the 17th century. But the Crux was also distinctly mentioned in letters written by Andrea Corsali in 1515, when he made a beautiful, woodcut engraving of it.

While Crux Australis may be the smallest constellation in the sky, it has the highest concentration of bright stars of any. Alpha Crucis (a binary, i.e. two blue-white stars orbiting one another, but seen as one), Beta Crucis (a blue-white giant known as Mimosa, and nearly five times the size of our sun) and Gamma Crucis (which forms the top of the cross) are the brightest stars, while Delta Crucis hides ever so slightly in the light-wash of this dense part of the Milky Way. The fifth main star, Epsilon Crucis, is represented by the smallest star on the Australian flag.

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