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Centaurus (abbr. Cen, gen. Centauri)
The Centaur; a large, bright southern constellation. It is most famous for containing the nearest star to the Sun, Alpha Centauri. A line from Alpha through Beta Cen (the Pointers) leads to Crux, the Southern Cross. See below for details of the constellation's brightest stars and interesting deep sky objects.
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| Centaurus. © 2003 Torsten Bronger. Copied here under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License |
| Stars brighter than magnitude 4.0 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Star | Visual mag. |
Abs. mag. |
Spectral type |
Distance (lt-yr) |
R.A. (h m s) | Dec. ( ° ' '' ) |
| Alpha Centauri | -0.27 | 4.08 | 4.25 | |||
| Alpha1 | -0.01 | 4.40 | G2V | 14 39 37 | -60 50 02 | |
| Alpha2 | 1.33 | 5.70 | K1V | 14 39 35 | -60 50 13 | |
| Beta (Hadar, Agena) | 0.61 | -5.43 | B1III | 525 | 14 03 49 | -60 22 22 |
| Theta (Menkent) | 2.06 | 0.70 | K0IIIb | 61 | 14 06 41 | -36 22 12 |
| Gamma (Muhlifain) | 2.20 | -0.81 | A1IV | 130 | 12 41 31 | -48 57 34 |
| Epsilon | 2.29 | -3.02 | B1III | 376 | 13 39 53 | -53 27 58 |
| Eta | 2.33 | -2.55 | B1.5Vne | 309 | 14 35 30 | -42 09 28 |
| Zeta (Al Nair al Kentaurus) | 2.55 | -2.81 | B2.5IV | 385 | 13 55 32 | -47 17 17 |
| Delta | 2.58 | -2.73 | B2IVne | 376 | 12 08 22 | -50 43 20 |
| Iota | 2.75 | 1.48 | A2V | 59 | 13 20 36 | -36 42 44 |
| Kappa (Ke Kwan) | 3.13 | -2.96 | B2IV | 539 | 14 59 10 | -42 06 15 |
| Lambda | 3.13 | -2.39 | B9II | 410 | 11 35 47 | -63 01 11 |
| Nu | 3.41 | -2.41 | B2IV | 475 | 13 49 30 | -41 41 16 |
| Mu | 3.47 | -2.57 | B2IVnpe | 527 | 13 49 37 | -42 28 25 |
| Phi | 3.83 | -1.94 | B2IV | 465 | 13 58 16 | -42 06 02 |
| Tau | 3.85 | 0.82 | A2V | 132 | 12 37 42 | -48 32 28 |
| Upsilon1 | 3.87 | -1.67 | B2IV-V | 418 | 13 58 41 | -44 48 13 |
| Pi | 3.90 | -1.07 | B5Vn | 321 | 11 21 00 | -54 29 27 |
| Omicron | 3.91 | -1.76 | B3V | 443 | 12 28 02 | -50 13 51 |
| Other objects of interest | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name | Type of Object | Notes |
| Blue Planetary | planetary nebula | NGC 3918. See separate entry |
| NGC 3766 | open cluster | A cluster of about 60 stars that is visible to the naked eye. Small telescopes show a pattern of loops containing orange, yellow, white, and bluish stars. Magnitude 5.3; diameter 12'; distance 1,700 light-years; R.A. 11h 36.1m, Dec. -61° 37' |
| NGC 5460 | open cluster | A scattered object well suited for small telescopes. Magnitude 5.6; diameter 25'; distance 2,700 light-years; R.A. 14h 7.6m, Dec. -48° 19' |
| Omega Centauri | globular cluster | NGC 5139. See separate entry |
| Coalsack | dark cloud | See separate entry |
| NGC 4945 | galaxy | An edgewise open spiral galaxy, similar to our own, that appears as a long narrow luminous haze. It is a member of a small group of galaxies that includes NGC 5128 and M83. Magnitude 9.0; diameter 20'; R.A. 13h 5m, Dec. -49° 28' |
| Centaurus A | galaxy | NGC 5128. See separate entry |
| Constellations |
| Andromeda | Antlia | Apus | Aquarius | Aquila | Ara | Aries | Auriga | Bootes | Caelum | Camelopardalis | Cancer | Canes Venatici | Canis Major | Canis Minor | Capricornus | Carina | Cassiopeia | Centaurus | Cepheus | Cetus | Chamaeleon | Circinus | Columba | Coma Berenices | Corona Austrina | Corona Borealis | Corvus | Crater | Crux | Cygnus | Delphinus | Dorado | Draco | Equuleus | Eridanus | Fornax | Gemini | Grus | Hercules | Horologium | Hydra | Hydrus | Indus | Lacerta | Leo | Leo Minor | Lepus | Libra | Lupus | Lynx | Lyra | Mensa | Microscopium | Monoceros | Musca | Norma | Octans | Ophiuchus | Orion | Pavo | Pegasus | Perseus | Phoenix | Pictor | Pisces | Piscis Austrinus | Puppis | Pyxis | Reticulum | Sagitta | Sagittarius | Scorpius | Sculptor | Scutum | Serpens | Sextans | Taurus | Telescopium | Triangulum | Triangulum Australe | Tucana | Ursa Major | Ursa Minor | Vela | Virgo | Volans | Vulpecula |
Related categories
• NOTABLE STARS
• NEBULAE AND STAR CLUSTERS
• GALAXIES
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