The Caldwell Objects

94
94
Kappa Crusis
The Jewel Box
NGC 4755
Type: Open Cluster
Con: Crux
RA: 12 h 53.6 m
Dec: -60° 21'
Mag: 4.2
Diam: 10.0'
Dist: 4,900 light-years
Disc: Abbe Nicolas Louis de
Lacaille, included in his 1755
catalog
J. H ERSCHEL: The
central star (extremely red) or a most vivid and beautiful
cluster of from 50 to 100 stars. Among the larger there
are one or two evidently greenish; south of the red star
T HE J EWEL Box, A TRUE TREASURE AMONG
open clusters, adorns the Holy Grail of constellations,
novelist Edward Robert Bulwer-Lytton's
"great cross of the South." If there is one constellation
wholly symbolic of travel and adventure,
it is the Southern Cross. Early sailors saw
the Cross as a good omen sent to guide them
across uncharted seas. But before I continue, a
note of clarification. Crux, the constellation's
formal name, means "Cross," not "Southern
Cross" (which would be CruxAustralis). Astronomers
often refer to Crux as the "Southern Cross"
to differentiate it from the Northern Cross, an
asterism in Cygnus, the Swan. The phrase
"Southern Cross" has become so entrenched in
our vocabulary, however, that most modern
references equate Crux with it. But that's like
saying "Corona" means "Southern Crown" or
"Aurora" means "Southern Lights."
376
is one [of] 13th magnitude], also red; and near it is one [of]
12thmagnitude], bluish. (h3435)
G C / Ν G C: Cluster, very large, stars very bright (κ Crucis).
The Cross first appeared as such on celestial
globes in 1592. Before that its stars belonged to
Centaurus and could be seen on Arabic globes
dating to 1225. Somehow Dante Alighieri — "the
spokesman of ten silent centuries," as 19thcentury
Scottish essayist and historian Carlyle
called him — learned of the stars' existence,
probably through conversations with the great
adventurer Marco Polo or other equally welltraveled
men. For he alluded to the stars in his
Divine Comedy, which he completed in 1321. In
that tale, after Dante and Beatrice Portiani ascend
from Hades on the other side of the world, the
first thing they see when looking skyward are
four brilliant stars representing the four principal
virtues: Justice, Prudence, Fortitude, and
Temperance. Among the first true navigators to
glimpse this "other side of the world" was
Christopher Columbus. It was on
Deep-Sky Companions: The Caldwell Objects