Grus
What is Grus?
Constellations· Autumn evenings low south (N) · the crane below Fomalhaut. The crane stretching its long neck south of Fomalhaut — a southern constellation drawn from Dutch navigators' observations in 1598, with 1.7-magnitude Alnair and the red giant Beta forming the body. From Seoul only part of it clears the autumn southern horizon. Look below Fomalhaut in the Sky view.
📍 Visible from where you are right now — computed in your browser
bearing · altitude · rise time · best time tonight
Where Grus is in your sky right now: https://nowsky.org/solar/sky?sel=con:Grus — location and time set automatically, no login.
Stars of the figure
| Star | Magnitude |
|---|---|
| Alnair | 1.7 |
The 1 brightest of the 4 stars used in the figure (3 lines). Lower magnitude means brighter.
Constellation basics
| Season | autumn evenings low south (N) · spring (S) |
|---|---|
| Brightest star | Alnair (α, 1.7) |
| How to find | directly south of Fomalhaut |
| Area rank | 88 |
Figures are representative approximations. Source: compiled from NASA and IAU public data.
Frequently asked
- When can I see Grus?
- autumn evenings low south (N) · spring (S).
- How do I find Grus?
- directly south of Fomalhaut.
- What is the brightest star in Grus?
- Alnair, magnitude 1.7.
- Where is Grus in the sky right now?
- Open the sky view for your location and time and it shows the position in the sky right now.
The crane that broke off from the fish's tail
Until the constellation was created in 1598, the stars of Grus were part of Piscis Austrinus. Stars that formed the fish's tail on Ptolemy's chart became the crane's body on the navigators' new chart, which is why the two constellations still adjoin. Even the Arabic name of Alnair, "the bright one", originally meant the bright star of the fish's tail.
In the south of the constellation four galaxies known as the Grus Quartet — NGC 7552, 7582, 7590 and 7599 — are tangled in one another's gravity, interacting 60 million light-years away. All four fit in one field of a small telescope and are a favourite of southern observers. From Seoul only the crane's neck clears the horizon, but the sky beneath holds the story of a fish that became a bird and the dance of four galaxies.
The constellation in depth
Grus is one of the twelve southern constellations Plancius placed on his 1598 globe, based on stars measured by Keyser and de Houtman during the Dutch voyage to the East Indies of 1595–97. It was carved from stars that had belonged to the tail of Piscis Austrinus, and for a time it was also called the Flamingo.
Alnair — "the bright one" in Arabic — is a blue-white star of magnitude 1.7, while Beta Gruis is a 2.1-magnitude red giant visibly ruddy to the naked eye. Delta and Mu are each naked-eye pairs, giving the crane's neck a knotted look. The constellation also contains the Grus Quartet group of galaxies and the spiral NGC 7424.
On October–November evenings, look just above the southern horizon below Fomalhaut for Alnair. From Seoul it peaks only about 5 degrees high, so one or two stars show only from a completely open southern site; the whole figure needs southern Korea or the southern hemisphere. In the Sky view, switch the location to a southern city.
Related
Figures are representative approximations. Simulated positions use J2000 mean elements.