Star profile
Delta Centauri
Variable starWhat is Delta Centauri
Delta Centauri is one of those stars that breathes. It spins so fast —around 263 km/s at the equator— that it has flung off a disk of gas, and that disk forms and fades over the centuries, making the star flicker softly between magnitude 2.5 and 2.6. Its blue light, born 415 light-years away, has been crossing the ocean for centuries before reaching any southern observer.
Where it is and when to see it
Delta 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 Delta Centauri
- Constellation
- Centaurus
- Apparent magnitude
- 2.58
- Distance
- 415.0 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 182.090° · Dec -50.722°
- Catalogue
- HIP 59196 · HD 105435
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
- Epsilon Centauri2.29
- Eta Centauri2.33
- Zeta Centauri2.55
- Iota Centauri2.75
- Lambda Centauri3.11