Delta Crucis is a B2IV star

Star

A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...

 in the constellation

Constellation

In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....

 Crux

Crux

Crux is the smallest of the 88 modern constellations, but is one of the most distinctive. Its name is Latin for cross, and it is dominated by a cross-shaped asterism that is commonly known as the Southern Cross.-Visibility:...

. It is sometimes called Pálida (Pale [one]) in Portuguese

Portuguese language

Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...

.

It is of apparent magnitude

Apparent magnitude

The apparent magnitude of a celestial body is a measure of its brightness as seen by an observer on Earth, adjusted to the value it would have in the absence of the atmosphere...

 2.78 and about 360 light-year

Light-year

A light-year, also light year or lightyear is a unit of length, equal to just under 10 trillion kilometres...

s from Earth, the faintest of the four bright stars that form the constellation Crux. As a subgiant, it has left the stage of a B-dwarf star at the main sequence

Main sequence

The main sequence is a continuous and distinctive band of stars that appears on plots of stellar color versus brightness. These color-magnitude plots are known as Hertzsprung–Russell diagrams after their co-developers, Ejnar Hertzsprung and Henry Norris Russell...

, is now developing into a red giant

Red giant

A red giant is a luminous giant star of low or intermediate mass in a late phase of stellar evolution. The outer atmosphere is inflated and tenuous, making the radius immense and the surface temperature low, somewhere from 5,000 K and lower...

 and will one day end as a white dwarf

White dwarf

A white dwarf, also called a degenerate dwarf, is a small star composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. They are very dense; a white dwarf's mass is comparable to that of the Sun and its volume is comparable to that of the Earth. Its faint luminosity comes from the emission of stored...

.

Delta Crucis is a Beta Cephei variable

Beta Cephei variable

Beta Cephei variables are variable stars which exhibit variations in their brightness due to pulsations of the stars' surfaces. The point of maximum brightness roughly corresponds to the maximum contraction of the star. Typically, Beta Cephei variables change in brightness by 0.01 to 0.3...

 and changes its brightness subtly with a period of 1.3 hours. Its rotation is very fast, with a period of less than 1.3 days.

Etymology

In Chinese

Chinese language

The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

, , meaning Cross, refers to an asterism consisting of δ Crucis, γ Crucis

Gamma Crucis

Gamma Crucis , often called Gacrux, is a red giant star approximately 88 light-years away in the constellation of Crux. Among Portuguese-speaking peoples it is also named "Rubídea" , in reference to its color. The star is the third-brightest star in Crux and one of the brightest stars in the...

, α Crucis

Alpha Crucis

Acrux is the brightest star in the constellation Crux, the Southern Cross, and, at a combined visual magnitude 0.77, is the twelfth brightest star in the night sky...

 and β Crucis

Beta Crucis

Mimosa or Becrux is the second brightest star in the constellation Crux and is one of the brightest stars in the night sky....

. Consequently, δ Crucis itself is known as .

The people of Aranda

Aranda

-Places and events:*Aranda de Duero, a Spanish town located in Burgos province, the site of the Council of Aranda*Aranda , see Comarcas of Aragon*Aranda, Australian Capital Territory, a Canberra suburb named after the Arrernte people...

 and Luritja

Luritja

Luritja is a name used to refer to several dialects of the Indigenous Australian Western Desert Language, and thereby also to the people who speak these varieties, and their traditional lands.-Origin and meaning of Luritja:...

 tribe around Hermannsburg

Hermannsburg

Hermannsburg is a municipality in the Celle district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated at the River Örtze, approx. 15 kilometers east of Bergen and 30 kilometers north of Celle.-Division of the municipality:...

, Central Australia

Central Australia

Central Australia/Alice Springs Region is one of the five regions in the Northern Territory. The term Central Australia is used to describe an area centred on Alice Springs in Australia. It is sometimes referred to as Centralia; likewise the people of the area are sometimes called Centralians...

 named Iritjinga, "The Eagle-hawk", a quadrangular arrangement comprising this star, γ Cru

Gamma Crucis

Gamma Crucis , often called Gacrux, is a red giant star approximately 88 light-years away in the constellation of Crux. Among Portuguese-speaking peoples it is also named "Rubídea" , in reference to its color. The star is the third-brightest star in Crux and one of the brightest stars in the...

 (Gacrux), γ Cen

Gamma Centauri

Gamma Centauri is a star in the constellation Centaurus. It has the proper name Muhlifain, not to be confused with Muliphein, which is γ Canis Majoris; both names derive from the same Arabic root....

 (Muhilfain) and δ Cen

Delta Centauri

Delta Centauri is a star in the constellation Centaurus.It is the B type third-magnitude star. It is classified as a Gamma Cassiopeiae type variable star and its brightness varies from magnitude +2.51 to +2.65....

 (Ma Wei).

Modern legacy

δ Cru is represented in the flags of Australia

Flag of Australia

The flag of Australia is a defaced Blue Ensign: a blue field with the Union Flag in the canton , and a large white seven-pointed star known as the Commonwealth Star in the lower hoist quarter...

, New Zealand

Flag of New Zealand

The flag of New Zealand is a defaced Blue Ensign with the Union Flag in the canton, and four red stars with white borders to the right. The stars represent the constellation of Crux, the Southern Cross....

 and Papua New Guinea

Flag of Papua New Guinea

The flag of Papua New Guinea was adopted on July 1, 1971. In the hoist, it depicts the Southern Cross; in the fly, a raggiana bird of paradise is silhouetted. The designer of the flag was 15 year old schoolgirl Susan Huhume who won a nationwide competition for a new flag design in 1971.Red and...

 as one of five stars which comprise the Southern Cross. It is also featured in the flag of Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, along with 26 other stars, each of which represents a state. δ Cru represents the State of Minas Gerais

Minas Gerais

Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...

.