Mimosa is the second-brightest object in the southern constellation of Crux (after Acrux), and the 20th-brightest star in the night sky.

[19] Consequently, Mimosa itself is known as 十字架三 (Shí Zì Jià sān, English: the Third Star of Cross.).

[20] Based on parallax measurements, Mimosa is located at a distance of 280 ly (86 pc) from the Earth.

In 1957, German astronomer Wulff-Dieter Heintz discovered that it is a spectroscopic binary with components that are too close together to resolve with a telescope.

[5] The primary, β Crucis A, has a stellar classification of B0.5 III,[5] classifying it as a blue giant that exausted the hydrogen supply at its core.

Two other stars, located at angular separations of 44 and 370 arcseconds, are likely optical companions that are not physically associated with the system.

[5] Mimosa is represented in the flags of Australia, New Zealand, Samoa and Papua New Guinea as one of five stars making up the Southern Cross.

[25] A vessel named MV Becrux is used to export live cattle from Australia to customers in Asia.