This set of six caches celebrate the distinctive Southern Cross that can be seen in the night sky.
Southern Cross
Many stars have names that indicate their brightness and location in a particular constellation. Astronomers call the Southern Cross the Crux and attach a letter of the Greek alphabet to the main stars in their order of brightness. The brightest star is at the bottom and, moving clockwise, the main stars are progressively dimmer.
The five stars
The brightest star is Alpha Crucis, also known as Acrux. It is the 14th brightest star in the sky and is really a triple star. When viewed through binoculars it appears as two blue-white stars. They are located 321 light years from earth.
Beta Crucis, also known as Mimosa, forms the eastern tip of the upright cross. It is the second brightest star in the Southern Cross, and the 20th brightest star in the sky. Lying some 353 light years away, it is a blue-white giant star.
Gamma Crucis or Gacrux, at the top of the cross, is a distinct red-orange star, and stands out in contrast to the other, blue-white stars of the cross. It lies 88 light years from earth.
Delta Crucis is the faintest of the four stars making up the cross. Like Beta Crucis, it is a blue-white giant star. It lies some 364 light years from earth.
The faint fifth star, Epsilon Crucis, shows up as a dusty orange colour below and just to the left of Delta Crucis. It is barely visible from light-polluted cities and suburbs. This star is an orange giant, located about 570 light years away.
The Jewel Box
The Jewel Box is a cluster of stars beside Beta Crucis that can easily be seen through binoculars. It appears as a single, bright orange-red star set amongst eight blue and white stars. Through a telescope a group of about 50 blue-white stars can be seen.