Delta Crucis, a blue giant star in Crux
Delta Crucis is a blue giant star in the constellation Crux. At 345 light years away, it is the 130th brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 2.79.
Delta Crucis (HIP 59747)
Delta Crucis is a blue giant star in the constellation Crux. At 345 light years away, it is the 130th brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 2.79. It is moving through the Galaxy at a speed of 29 km/s relative to the Sun. Its projected Galactic orbit carries it between 18,200 and 24,200 light years from the center of the Galaxy. It came closest to the Sun 2.7 million years ago when it had brightened to magnitude 1.84 from a distance of 222 light years.
Sky position: RA 12h 15.1m, Dec -58° 45'
Common designations: Delta Crucis, HIP 59747, HD 106490
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Brightest stars in Crux:
(list all)
| Rank | Mag. | Star |
| 1 | 0.77 | Acrux |
| 2 | 1.25 | Becrux |
| 3 | 1.59 | Gacrux |
4
| 2.79
) Delta Crucis
| Rank | Mag. | Star |
| 5 | 3.59 | Epsilon Crucis |
| 6 | 4.03 | Mu-1 Crucis |
| 7 | 4.06 | Zeta Crucis |
| 8 | 4.14 | Eta Crucis |
| 9 | 4.32 | Theta-1 Crucis |
| 10 | 4.62 | HR 4848 |
| 11 | 4.62 | Lambda Crucis |
| 12 | 4.69 | Iota Crucis |
| 13 | 4.72 | Theta-2 Crucis |
| 14 | 4.91 | 39 Crucis |
| 15 | 5.08 | Mu-2 Crucis |
| 16 | 5.27 | HR 4830 |
| 17 | 5.34 | HR 4908 |
Galactic Orbit of Delta Crucis
(compared to the Sun)
E
ccentricity: 14.2% vs. 16.0%Angle φ : 158.1°vs. 26.0°
Semi-major axis : 6,516 pc vs. 8,686 pc
Semi-minor axis: 6,450 pc vs. 8,574 pc
Focus-to-center
: 923 pcvs. 1,388 pcSemilatus rectum : 6,385 pc vs. 8,464 pc
Perigalacticon: 5,593 pc vs. 7,297 pc
Apogalacticon
: 7,438 pcvs. 10,074 pcSome Tabulated XHIP Data for Delta Crucis
(see also: SIMBAD)
Astrometry
2007A&A...474..653V
| Position | Proper Motion | |
| Right Ascension: | 183.78648746° ±0.10 mas | -35.82 ±0.12 mas/yr. |
| Declination: | -58.74890175° ±0.10 mas | -10.36 ±0.12 mas/yr. |
| Galactic Longitude: | 298.22903434° | -34.01 mas/yr. |
| Galactic Latitude: | 3.79106582° | -15.30 mas/yr. |
Parallax: 9.45 ± 0.15 mas
Spectrography
Spectral Type: B2III 1976A&AS...26..241C.
Radial Velocity: 22.20 ±2.60 km/s [A rating] 2006AstL...32..759G.
Iron Abundance [Fe/H]:
n/a
Photometry
band
magnitude
Abs. Mag.
U
1.63
-3.49
B
2.60
-2.53
V
2.79
-2.33
R
I
3.01
-2.12
J
3.33
-1.79
H
3.44
-1.68
K
3.53
-1.59
B-V: -0.19 V-I: -0.22
Derivations
Heliocentric distance: 105.79 pc (1.6% margin of error)
Galactocentric distance: 7,351 pc
Transverse velocity: 18.7 km/s
3D heliocentric position and motion:
|
toward: |
Galactic center | Galactic rotation | North Galactic Pole |
| Position ( X, Y, Z) | 49.9 pc | -93.0 pc | 7.0 pc |
| Velocity (U, V, W) | -4.3 km/s | -28.0 km/s | -6.2 km/s |