Cultural Significance
Beta Centauri is well known in the Southern Hemisphere as the inner of the two "Pointers" to the Southern Cross. A line made from the other pointer, Alpha Centauri, through Beta Centauri leads to within a few degrees of Gacrux, the star at the top of the cross. Using Gacrux, a navigator can draw a line with Acrux to effectively determine south.
The indigenous Boorong people of northwestern Victoria named it as Bermbermgle (together with α Cen), two brothers who were noted for their courage and destructiveness, and who spear and kill Tchingal, "The Emu" (Coalsack Nebula). The two brothers in Wotjobaluk people is Bram-bram-bult.
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