Crux Crux Crux is a constellation located in the southern sky in a bright portion of the Milky Way. It is among the most easily distinguished constellations, as all of its four main stars have an apparent visual magnitude brighter than +2.8, even though it is the smallest of all 88 modern constellations. Its name is Latin for cross, and it is dominated by a cross-shaped or kite-like asterism that is commonly known as the Southern Cross. Predominating is the first-magnitude blue-white star of Alpha Crucis or Acrux, being the constellation's brightest and most southerly member. Crux is followed by four
Crux exiting the Gambia River in 1455, calling it the "carro dell'ostro" ("southern chariot"). However, Cadamosto's accompanying diagram was inaccurate. Historians generally credit João Faras for being the first European to depict it correctly. Faras sketched and described the constellation (calling it "Las Guardas") in a letter written on the beaches of Brazil on 1 May 1500 to the Portuguese monarch. Explorer Amerigo Vespucci seems to have observed not only the Southern Cross but also the neighboring Coalsack Nebula on his second voyage in 1501–1502. Another early modern description clearly describing Crux as a separate constellation is attributed to Andreas Corsali,