The WGSN states that in the case of multiple stars the name should be understood to be attributed to the brightest component by visual brightness.

[18] Since Acrux is at −63° declination, making it the southernmost first-magnitude star, it is only visible south of latitude 27° North.

Because of Earth's axial precession, the star was visible to ancient Hindu astronomers in India who named it Tri-shanku.

[3] α1 is itself a spectroscopic binary star, with its components thought to be around 14 and 10 times the mass of the Sun and orbiting in only 76 days at a separation of about 1 AU.

The masses of α2 and the brighter component of α1 suggest that the stars will someday expand into blue and red supergiants (similar to Betelgeuse and Antares) before exploding as supernovae.

[11] Component Ab may perform electron capture in the degenerate O+Ne+Mg core and trigger a supernova explosion,[27][28] otherwise it will become a massive white dwarf.

[5] Rizzuto and colleagues determined in 2011 that the α Crucis system was 66% likely to be a member of the Lower Centaurus–Crux sub-group of the Scorpius–Centaurus association.

[33] On 2 October 2008, the Cassini–Huygens spacecraft resolved three of the components (A, B and C) of the multiple star system as Saturn's disk occulted it.

[34][35] Acrux is represented in the flags of Australia, New Zealand, Samoa, and Papua New Guinea as one of five stars that compose the Southern Cross.