Delta Crucis

Nomenclature

δ Crucis (Latinised to Delta Crucis) is the star's Bayer designation. It is abbreviated Delta Cru or δ Cru.

The International Astronomical Union Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) approved the name Imai for this star on 10 August 2018 and it is in the list of IAU-approved star names. Imai is the name given to this star by the Mursi people of modern-day Ethiopia. The star Imai has some significance as when it "ceases to appear in the evening sky at dusk (around the end of August), it is said that the Omo River rises high enough to flatten the imai grass that grows along its banks, and then subsides." The Mursi use a series of southern stars to mark their calendar to track seasonal flooding of the Omo River: Imai along with β Crucis (Thaadoi), β Centauri (Waar), and α Centauri (Sholbi).

It is sometimes called Pálida (Pale [one]) in Portuguese.

In Chinese, 十字架 (Shí Zì Jià), meaning Cross, refers to an asterism consisting of δ Crucis, γ Crucis, α Crucis and β Crucis. Consequently, δ Crucis itself is known as 十字架四 (Shí Zì Jià sì, English: the Fourth Star of Cross).

The Aranda and Luritja people around Hermannsburg, Central Australia named Iritjinga, "The Eagle-hawk", a quadrangular arrangement comprising this star, γ Cru (Gacrux), γ Cen (Muhlifain) and δ Cen (Ma Wei).