Constellation, Crane
Grus
The crane, a long-necked wading bird made from stars that Arab astronomers once counted in the tail of the Southern Fish. It dates from the first Dutch voyages to the East Indies.
From New York on October 13, 2026, the centre of Grus rises at 7:53 PM, is highest at 10:01 PM (4° above the horizon in the S) and sets at 12:09 AM.
In the 3D sky
The sky over New York turned towards Grus. Drag to look around.
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Evening visibility over the year
Height of the constellation’s centre above the horizon at 10 pm local time on the 15th of each month, from New York. Above about 30° it is well placed.
Name and history
Grus has no ancient myth. It is one of twelve figures formed from the stars that the Dutch navigators Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman charted on the first Dutch voyage to the East Indies. The crane first appeared in 1598 on a globe by Petrus Plancius and Jodocus Hondius, under the Dutch and Latin names Krane and Grus. De Houtman’s own catalogue of 1603 called it Den Reygher, the heron, but Johann Bayer’s Uranometria of the same year kept the name Grus. Ptolemy had placed the star at the crane’s head at the tip of the Southern Fish’s tail.
In 1605 the Dutch geographer Paul Merula called the figure Phoenicopterus, the flamingo, a name that seems to have come from Plancius. The crane won out. Its brightest star, Alnair, takes its name from an Arabic phrase for the bright one in the fish’s tail. Arab astronomers of the 16th century had stretched the tail of the Southern Fish south to include it.
Sources: Ian Ridpath, Star Tales: Grus
Brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alnair | α Gru | 1.73 | 101 light-years |
| Tiaki | β Gru | 2.07 | 177 light-years |
| Aldhanab | γ Gru | 3.00 | 211 light-years |
| ε Gru | ε Gru | 3.49 | 129 light-years |
| ι Gru | ι Gru | 3.88 | 183 light-years |
| δ1 Gru | δ1 Gru | 3.97 | 309 light-years |
| ζ Gru | ζ Gru | 4.11 | 109 light-years |
| δ2 Gru | δ2 Gru | 4.12 | 330 light-years |
| θ Gru | θ Gru | 4.28 | 132 light-years |
| λ Gru | λ Gru | 4.47 | 242 light-years |
Facts
| Area | about 366 square degrees (45 of 88) |
|---|---|
| IAU abbreviation | Gru |
| Sky | Southern sky |
| Origin | First shown on the 1598 celestial globe of Petrus Plancius and Jodocus Hondius, from observations by Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman |
| Stars brighter than magnitude 5 | 13 |
| Centre (J2000) | 22.6 h, -45° |
Deep-sky objects
Galaxies, clusters and nebulae brighter than magnitude 9, from the OpenNGC catalogue. Most need binoculars or a telescope and a dark sky.
No deep-sky object brighter than magnitude 9.
Boundaries: International Astronomical Union, via Astronomy Engine. Areas are computed from the boundaries by sampling (within about one percent). Names and lines: Stellarium. Stars: HYG Database. Deep-sky objects: OpenNGC. Calculated with Astronomy Engine, an open-source library verified against the US Naval Observatory and NASA JPL. Data sources
How to use this page
Choose your place and a night at the top. The answer and the 3D view show where the constellation is, when it is highest and whether it rises at all from where you are. The chart shows its stars and lines, and the tables list its brightest stars and the deep-sky objects inside it.
Frequently asked questions
When is a constellation best seen?
When it is highest in a dark sky, which the page gives for the night you pick. Each constellation is best placed in a particular season, because the stars rise about four minutes earlier every night.
Why can I not see a constellation from my place?
Constellations far south of the celestial equator never rise from northern places, and those far north never rise from southern ones. The page says when this is the case.
What are the constellation boundaries?
The International Astronomical Union divides the sky into 88 areas with official boundaries. The stick figures are only a drawing aid, the boundaries say which constellation a point in the sky belongs to.
Related guides
- How to learn the constellationsStart with one bright pattern you cannot miss, use it as a signpost to its neighbours, and come back a month later: the sky will have turned, and you will know a little more of it.
- Altitude and azimuth: finding things in the skyTwo angles tell you exactly where to look: which direction, and how high.
- Light pollution and dark skies: the Bortle scaleFrom a city centre you can count a few dozen stars. From a truly dark site you can count a few thousand, with the Milky Way bright enough to cast a shadow. The Bortle scale puts a number on the difference.
- Binoculars for stargazing: what to buy and what to look atA pair of 7x50 or 10x50 binoculars shows the craters of the Moon, the moons of Jupiter, dozens of star clusters and the Andromeda Galaxy, for a fraction of the cost of a telescope.