The Diamond Cross is an asterism in the southern constellation Carina. The Diamond Cross is composed of four bright stars: Beta, Theta, Upsilon and Omega Carinae. These four bright stars create an almost perfect diamond shape, hence the name "Diamond Cross". The entire asterism is visible to all observers south of 20°N latitude. It bears a striking resemblance to Crux (The Southern Cross) and the False Cross, and, like them, it lacks a central star in its cross pattern, creating a diamond-shaped or kite-like appearance. Both the Diamond Cross and the False Cross are sometimes mistaken for the true cross Crux, although the False Cross has always been a worse deceiver than the Diamond Cross, because most of its stars have approximately the same declinations as the stars of Crux.
Famous quotes containing the words diamond and/or cross:
“Masts in the offing wagged their tops;
The swinging waves pealed on the shore;
The saffron beach, all diamond drops
And beads of surge, prolonged the roar.”
—John Davidson (1857–1909)
“Passion is here a soilure of the wits,
We’re told, and Love a cross for them to bear;
Joy shivers in the corner where she knits
And Conscience always has the rocking-chair,
Cheerful as when she tortured into fits
The first cat that was ever killed by Care.”
—Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869–1935)