Gacrux

Gacrux is the third-brightest star in the southern constellation of Crux, the Southern Cross. It has the Bayer designation Gamma Crucis, which is Latinised from γ Crucis and abbreviated Gamma Cru or γ Cru. With an apparent visual magnitude of +1.63, it is the 26th brightest star in the night sky. A line from the two "Pointers", Alpha Centauri through Beta Centauri, leads to within 1° north of this star. Using parallax measurements made during the Hipparcos mission, it is distant. It is the nearest M-type red giant star.

== Nomenclature == thumb|left|The constellation Crux, with the reddish star Gacrux at the top of the constellation (north) in this image γ Crucis (Latinised to Gamma Crucis) is the star's Bayer designation. Gacrux is currently at roughly 60° south declination. It was known and visible to the ancient Greeks and Romans as it was visible north of 40° latitude because of the precession of equinoxes. Oddly, it lacked a traditional name. The astronomer Ptolemy counted it as part of the constellation of Centaurus. The name Gacrux was coined by astronomer Elijah Hinsdale Burritt (1794-1838) as a contraction of the Bayer designation. In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN's first bulletin of July 2016 included a table of the first two batches of names approved by the WGSN, which included Gacrux for this star.