Mimosa or Beta Crucis , bright star in the constellation Crux (Southern Cross); 1992 position R.A. 12^h47.3^m, Dec. −59°39′. It is sometimes called Becrux, from its Bayer name, analogous to Acrux (Alpha Crucis) and Gacrux (Gamma Crucis). A bluish-white giant of spectral class B0 III, its apparent magnitude of 1.28 makes it one of the 20 brightest stars in the sky. Mimosa's distance is c.500 light-years.