Crux () is the smallest of the 88 modern constellations, but is one of the most distinctive.

Contrary to popular belief, Crux is not opposite to Ursa Major.

Crux is exactly opposite to Cassiopeia on the celestial sphere, and therefore it cannot appear in the sky with the latter at the same time.

For locations south of 34 ° S, Crux is circumpolar and thus always visible in the night sky.

Crux is bordered by the constellations Centaurus ( which surrounds it on three sides ) and Musca.

Crux is sometimes confused with the nearby False Cross by stargazers.

Crux is somewhat kite-shaped, and it has a fifth star ( ε Crucis ).

Not all of the nebula is in the borders of Crux ; some of it is technically in Musca and Centaurus.

Royer is also sometimes cited as initially distinguishing Crux.

The separation of Crux from Centaurus is generally attributed to the French astronomer Augustin Royer in 1679, but other historians attribute the invention of Crux to Petrus Plancius in 1613.

The most prominent feature of Crux is the distinctive asterism known as the Southern Cross.

In Australian Aboriginal astronomy, Crux and the Coalsack mark the head of the ' Emu in the Sky ' in several Aboriginal cultures, while Crux itself is said to be a possum sitting in a tree and a representation of the sky deity Mirrabooka.

In ancient Hindu astrology, the modern Crux is referred to as Trishanku.

In Quechua, the language of the Inca civilization, Crux is known as " Chakana ", which means literally " stair " ( chaka, bridge, link ; hanan, high, above ), but carries a deep symbolism within Quechua mysticism.

The rhea's body is marked by the four main stars of Crux, while its head is Gamma Centauri and its feet are the bright stars of Musca.

Cruzeiro Esporte Clube ( Crux / Southern Cross Sports Club ) is a first class football ( soccer ) club in Brazil.

Eugene Solano, his mission operator, is codenamed " Crux ".

Zeitgeist: the Movie claims that the Sun can be in the vicinity of Crux: this is seen through the northern hemisphere of the earth.

It is the second smallest of the modern constellations ( after Crux ), spanning only 72 square degrees.

The two stars of Alpha and Beta Centauri are often referred to as the " Southern Pointers " or just " The Pointers ", allowing people to easily find the asterism of the Southern Cross or the constellation of Crux.

Very few bright stars of importance lie between Crux and the pole itself, although the constellation Musca is fairly easily recognised immediately beneath Crux.

The five brightest stars in Crux are clearly visible in the top right.

Crux was visible to the Ancient Greeks ; Ptolemy regarded it as part of the constellation Centaurus.

Among Tuaregs, the four most visible stars of Crux are considered iggaren, i. e. four Maerua crassifolia trees.

The Southern Cross or Crux is a constellation visible in the Southern Hemisphere.

In fact, in tropical regions both Crux ( low in the south ) and Ursa Major ( low in the north ) can be seen in the sky from April to June.

Depiction of the Crux ( labelled ' Las Guardas ') by physician-astronomer Mestre João Faras in his letter of May 1, 1500, to King Manuel I of Portugal from the newly discovered land of Brazil

The south celestial pole can be located from the Southern Cross ( Crux ) and its two " pointer " stars α Centauri and β Centauri.

The Coalsack is located at a distance of approximately 600 light years away from Earth, in the Crux constellation.

Furthermore, many ambitious warmongers, such as Paptimus Scirocco from Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam and Crux Dogatie from Mobile Suit Crossbone Gundam, are powerful Newtypes who have no intentions to promote peace.

* Alpha and Beta Centauri are the Southern Pointers leading to the Southern Cross and thus helping to distinguish Crux from the False Cross.

Crux was an asterism when Bayer created it in Uranometria ( 1603 ) from stars in the hind legs of Centaurus.

Just prior to his death, Crux admits he caused everything from her parents ' murders, to the psionic hunters and Elisa's own slaying.

From the tape, she learns that she was a killer for Crux, that Trouvaille, aided by Scythe, tried ripping Elisa's soul from her body, but in the middle of the procedure, Cameron Nemo briefly appeared.

Royer is often named as the creator of the constellation Columba ( the Dove ) by splitting off part of the constellation Canis Major, and the constellation Crux ( the Southern Cross ) with stars from Centaurus but these were in fact already formed ( and depicted ) in 1589 and in 1592 by Petrus Plancius.

For CrossGen he took over some of the comics of the out-going Mark Waid, taking over Sigil from # 21, and Crux with # 13.

After the X-3 is destroyed and Crux Dogatie killed, Kincaid retires from the war with Berah, and his X-1 Kai falls into Tobia's hands.

Image: Crux gemmata. jpg | A Crux gemmata from an Insular illuminated manuscript

Beginning in the colonial age, Crux became used as a national symbol by several southern nations.

It included the bright stars of Crux, the southern part of Centaurus, Circinus, at least one star in Lupus, the bright stars of Musca, Beta and Delta Chamaeleonis, Volans, and Mensa.

Some Stars within the far southern constellations, such as Crux, Musca, and Hydrus, roughly south of the Tropic of Capricorn (- 23½ °), will also be circumpolar stars.

Heiligenkreuz Abbey ( Stift Heiligenkreuz, Closter Heiligen Creyz or Santa Crux ) is a Cistercian monastery in the village of Heiligenkreuz in the southern part of the Vienna woods, c. 13 km north-west of Baden in Lower Austria.

In 1589 he collaborated with the Amsterdam cartographer Jacob Floris van Langren on a 32. 5-cm celestial globe, which, using the sparse information available about southern celestial features, for the first time depicted: Crux the southern cross, Triangulum Australe the southern triangle, and the Magellanic Clouds, Nubecula Major and Minor.

With an apparent visual magnitude of + 1. 63, this is the third-brightest star in the southern circumpolar constellation of Crux, the Southern Cross, and one of the brightest stars in the night sky.

Delta Crucis ( δ Cru, δ Crucis ) is a star in the southern circumpolar constellation of Crux.