Becrux

kappa crucis cluster

Jewel Box Cluster

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The Jewel Box Cluster, also known as the Kappa Crucis Cluster, is an open star cluster located in the southern constellation Crux.

The cluster has an apparent magnitude of 4.2 and lies at an approximate distance of 6,440 light years from Earth. It has the designation NGC 4755 in the New General Catalogue. The Jewel Box Cluster can easily be seen without binoculars and appears as a fuzzy star to the naked eye.

It is one of the finest objects in the southern sky, covering an area of 10 arc minutes, and best seen in binoculars and telescopes. Large binoculars and small telescopes easily resolve the pyramid shape formed by the cluster’s brightest stars.
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The Southern Cross

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The Southern Cross is one of the best known asterisms in the night sky, and the most familiar star pattern in the southern hemisphere.

Composed of five stars forming the shape of a cross, it is the most distinctive feature of the constellation Crux, the smallest constellation in the sky. The Southern Cross is notable for containing two bright stars, Acrux and Gacrux, which point the way to the Southern Celestial Pole.
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