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Acrux in the constellation of the Southern Cross and its
Surroundings
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Description of object:
The image shows the eastern part of the constellation Southern Cross
with the prominent stars Acrux (a Cru) and Becrux (ß Cru). The two stars
are in a distance of 320 and 280 light years. The Milky Way clouds behind them
contain several larger open star clusters, some of which are marked in the
labeled image. The large dark cloud that fills the lower right half of the
image is the well-known "Coal Sack", which stands out as a dark spot in the
Milky Way even with the naked eye. The bright star cluster on the lower left is
NGC 4755 and is also called Herschel's jewel box. With the naked eye you can
also see it as a faint starlet next to Becrux in the sky.
« Labeled version with object names and size comparison to
the moon |
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