The Southern Cross

Crux is a constellation located in the southern sky in a bright portion of the Milky Way, being among the most distinctive 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 the asterism is the most southerly first-magnitude star and brightest star in the constellation, the blue-white Alpha Crucis or Acrux, followed by four other stars, descending in clockwise order by magnitude: Beta, Gamma (one of the closest red giants to Earth), Delta and Epsilon Crucis. Many of these brighter stars are members of the Scorpius–Centaurus Association, a large but loose group of hot blue-white stars that appear to share common origins and motion across the southern Milky Way. The constellation contains four Cepheid variables that are visible to the naked eye under optimum conditions. Crux also contains the bright and colourful open cluster known as the Jewel Box (NGC 4755) and, to the southwest, partly includes the extensive dark nebula, known as the Coalsack Nebula.

Image Credit & Copyright: Carlos Fairbairn
Explanation from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crux