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2026.10.22 17:52
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Tonight's Sky
40 CONSTELLATIONS
constellation

Crux

남십자자리
The Southern Cross
Spring · all but invisible from Korea
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Science
The science

Crux is the smallest in area of all 88 constellations, yet its four bright stars form a distinct cross that has become the emblem of the southern night sky. Unlike the northern sky with its North Star, the south celestial pole has no suitable bright star, so sailors extended the long axis of this cross about 4.5 times to find the direction of the pole. Right beside the cross lie the "Coal Sack," a dark nebula that veils the Milky Way, and the "Jewel Box," an open cluster scattered like strewn gemstones — counted among the finest sights of the southern sky. Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and other nations have set this Southern Cross on their flags. Its declination is so far south, however, that it can scarcely be seen from Korea.

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Mythology
The myth

As a southern constellation, Crux does not appear in Greek or Roman myth. In ancient Greece these stars lay farther north than they do now and were counted as part of Centaurus, but precession gradually carried them southward until they vanished from European skies. In the Age of Exploration, European navigators venturing into southern seas "rediscovered" the cross shape and named it the "Southern Cross," likening it to the cross of Christianity. To the peoples of the southern hemisphere it had long been an important signpost in the sky: Aboriginal Australians saw these stars as a celestial eagle or stingray, and the Inca as a sacred staircase.

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Stars
Main stars (equatorial)
AcruxRA 12.44h · Dec -63.1° · m0.8
GacruxRA 12.52h · Dec -57.1° · m1.6
MimosaRA 12.80h · Dec -59.7° · m1.3
DeltaRA 12.25h · Dec -58.8° · m2.8
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Созвездия над вами прямо сейчас

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Ночное небо в реальном времени

Карта созвездий ночного неба в реальном времени

Какие созвездия сейчас у вас над головой, меняется от мгновения к мгновению — в зависимости от времени, даты и вашего местоположения. Пока Земля вращается, звёзды восходят на востоке и заходят на западе; пока Земля обращается вокруг Солнца, видимые созвездия меняются с временами года. Byulgil вычисляет это реальное небо по астрономическим данным J2000.0 и рисует созвездия, видимые из вашего местоположения прямо сейчас, в виде живой карты и в режиме AR. Ничего не нужно устанавливать — просто откройте браузер и посмотрите на сегодняшнее небо.

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Constellation Stories

40 историй о созвездиях

Tap a constellation in the sky above to fly to it. Each one comes with the science modern astronomy has uncovered, alongside the myths people have written into those stars.

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What is Byulgil?

Byulgil is a stargazing web app that computes the real night sky for your location, anywhere in the world, in real time. Byulgil means "Star Loads", in Korean. Use your current location (GPS) or pick a major city — Seoul, Tokyo, New York, Sydney — to see the sky exactly as it appears there, right now. Star positions come from real J2000.0 equatorial coordinates, converted to horizontal coordinates for your time and place. On mobile, AR mode lets you point your phone at the sky to overlay the constellations in that direction.