Star
The brightest star of the Southern Cross and the southernmost first-magnitude star.
| Type | Star |
|---|---|
| Distance from Earth | 320 ly |
| Diameter | 10,852,920 km |
| Mass | 3.54 × 10³¹ kg |
| Temperature | 23,727°C |
| Apparent magnitude | 0.76 |
| Redshift | 0 |
| Hemisphere | Southern |
| Discovered | 150 |
Stars spend most of their lives fusing hydrogen into helium in their core, and it's the balance between that outward pressure and gravity pulling inward that fixes how big and how bright a star gets.
At 10,852,920 km across, Acrux is 7.8 times the diameter of the Sun.
Its mass is 18 times the mass of the Sun.
The light reaching us from Acrux tonight left it around 320 years ago.
Its surface sits at 24,000 K, hotter than the Sun at 5,772 K, which is what sets its colour.
It has been on record since the year 150.
Play today's Cosmodle