The constellation ‘Crux’ is located in the southern hemisphere, and is one of the smallest of the 88 recognised constellations, and is also an asterism. The word ‘crux’ is Latin for cross, and the informal name for it is ‘the Southern Cross’, as it is a cross shape and it is only visible in the southern half of the world. Until the 16th Century, it was viewed as part of the constellation ‘Centaurus’. There are several ‘fake crosses’ in the sky near it, so it has 2 stars (Alpha Centauri and Beta Centauri) as ‘pointers’. The stars that make up the cross are Alpha Crucis, Beta Crucis, Delta Crucis, Gamma Crucis, and Epsilon Crucis. I chose this constellation because I can see it when I look up at the stars at night, and it is one of the few constellations I can recognise on sight.…show more content… In Maoi culture, Tainui Māori saw it as an anchor, named Te Punga of a great sky canoe, while the Wairarapa Māori called it Māhutonga, a hole in Te Ikaroa (the Milky Way) though which storm winds escaped.
The Greeks for were able to see before its stars dropped below the horizon for Europe and most of the Northern Hemisphere. Some people link the disappearance of the celestial cross from the sky to the crucifixion of Christ.
Some historians credit the Dutch astronomer Petrus Plancius for creating the constellations in 1613, and it was published by Jakob Bartsch in 1624.
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