CD Crucis
CD Crucis is an eclipsing binary star in the Crux constellation, about 14,000 light-years away near the faint open cluster Hogg 15. It is also known as WR 47.
The system contains two very massive and bright stars. One is a hot O-type main-sequence star (spectral type O5V), about 51 solar masses, 12 solar radii, and extremely luminous (around 880,000 times the Sun’s brightness). The other is a Wolf–Rayet star of type WN6, about 43 solar masses and 5 solar radii, with a luminosity around 127,000 times that of the Sun. The Wolf–Rayet star dominates the spectrum, but the O star is the more luminous overall, so either star can be referred to as the primary.
CD Crucis orbits every 6.2393 days with a separation of roughly 68 solar radii. The orbit is nearly circular and tilted about 67 degrees to our line of sight, producing the eclipses. From the orbital motion, the stars’ masses are about 42.6 solar masses for the Wolf–Rayet star and 51 solar masses for the O star.
Its apparent magnitude is around V = 10.8. The distance is about 4.3 kiloparsecs (roughly 14,000 light-years), and interstellar dust dims the light by about 3.5 magnitudes. The O star is far more luminous, while the Wolf–Rayet star is also extremely bright.
CD Crucis has several other names, including HIP 62115, HD 311884, WR 47, 2MASS J12435102-6305148, and AAVSO 1238-62.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 15:35 (CET).