Star profile
Lambda Centauri
Hot blue starWhat is Lambda Centauri
Lambda Centauri is a B9 blue giant adrift among the young suns of the Scorpius-Centaurus association, the nearest gathering of hot stars to the Sun. Its bluish-white light spills across the nebula IC 2944, nicknamed the «Running Chicken» for the silhouette its star clumps trace. Lambda does not live inside it: she only crosses in front, like a raised lantern held before a much more distant bonfire.
Where it is and when to see it
Lambda Centauri lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is April: the Sun sits at the opposite point of the sky and the star culminates around midnight. How high it climbs above the horizon depends on the latitude you watch from.
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The signature wall
Stelvia's sky works like a signature wall: anyone can leave their name and a message on a real star, and that signature goes up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.
A signature without a lock can be replaced by someone else's. The lock makes the signature permanent and lets you choose a symbolic name for the star, always shown next to the star's catalogue identifier. How the lock works
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A public signature from a real person. The chosen name is a symbolic denomination within Stelvia, with no official standing or IAU recognition: the sky is not for sale and belongs to no one.
Astronomical data for Lambda Centauri
- Constellation
- Centaurus
- Apparent magnitude
- 3.11
- Distance
- 419.8 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 173.945° · Dec -63.020°
- Catalogue
- HIP 56561 · HD 100841
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Centaurus
Centaurus has 174 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Rigil KentaurusAlpha 1 Centauri-0.01
- HadarBeta Centauri0.61
- TolimanAlpha 2 Centauri1.35
- Zeta Centauri2.55
- Delta Centauri2.58
- Iota Centauri2.75
- Kappa Centauri3.13
- Nu Centauri3.41