The smallest constellation in the sky, but one of the most celebrated and distinctive. It was formed from some of the stars of the constellation Centaurus by various seamen and astronomers in the 16th century. Crux means cross in Latin.

Johan Bayer incorporated these stars into his Uranometria star atlas in 1603 thus making it an officially recognised constellation.

It was known at the time of ancient Greece but at that time it was part of Centaurus.