COSMOS / CONSTELLATIONS / GRU
Grus (Crane)
The Crane. IAU abbreviation Gru. One of the 12 southern constellations based on the observations of the Dutch navigators Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman on their 1595–1597 voyage and spread by the globes of Petrus Plancius.
STAR CHART
KEY FACTS
- IAU abbreviation
- Gru
- Latin name / genitive
- Grus / Gruis
- Position
- Right ascension ≈ 22 h 39 m; declination −54° to −36°
- Visibility from Türkiye
- From Türkiye only its northern part is seen, low on the southern horizon; the southern provinces are better placed.
- Best time to observe
- Best placed at 21:00 Türkiye time around 28 October.
- Number of stars
- 58 stars brighter than magnitude 6.5 in the catalogue; 13 brighter than 5 and 6 brighter than 4.
INTERACTIVE LAB
Where is Grus tonight?
Only the northern part of this constellation is seen from Türkiye, low on the southern horizon. The lab opens for Ankara on today’s date; switch the city to Antalya and then to Sydney and watch how the “Visible part” row and the chart change. The “Best night” button jumps to the best date (around 28 October).
MYTH, HISTORY AND OBSERVING
A crane that entered star maps through the observations of Keyser and de Houtman. It lies south of Piscis Austrinus; from Türkiye only its northern part peeks above the southern horizon on autumn evenings.
BRIGHTEST STARS
| Star | Magnitude | Distance (light-years) | Spectral type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alnair | 1.73 | 101 | B7IV |
| Tiaki | 2.07 | 177 | M5III |
| Aldhanab | 3.00 | 211 | B8III |
| ε Gru | 3.49 | 129 | A3V |
| ι Gru | 3.88 | 183 | K0III |
| δ¹ Gru | 3.97 | 309 | G6/G8III |
| ζ Gru | 4.11 | 109 | G8III |
| δ² Gru | 4.12 | 330 | M4.5IIIa |
Magnitude: apparent brightness; the smaller the number, the brighter the star. Distances derive from parallax measurements and are uncertain for distant stars. Source: HYG v4.1 star catalogue (CC BY-SA 4.0).
SOURCES
Position, visibility and best observing time were computed approximately for this page from the catalogue stars (Ankara, 39.9° N). The 88 constellations were adopted by the IAU in 1922; their boundaries were drawn by Eugène Delporte in 1930.