Star profile
Rho Centauri
Hot blue starWhat is Rho Centauri
Rho Centauri is a hot blue B-type star roughly 379 light-years away, in a region of Centaurus crowded with young, massive suns. Its light, perceived as blue-white by the eye, reached Earth after a journey whose beginning roughly coincides with the century when Galileo first turned a telescope upon the sky.
Where it is and when to see it
Rho 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, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it never rises above the horizon.
- From New York it never rises above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 72° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 38° N.
It ranks no. 21 in brightness among the 174 stars of Centaurus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Rigil Kentaurus, the brightest: it lies about 22° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 380 years ago.
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Astronomical data for Rho Centauri
- Constellation
- Centaurus
- Apparent magnitude
- 3.97
- Distance
- 378.9 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 182.913° · Dec -52.368°
- Catalogue
- HIP 59449 · HD 105937
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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
- Pi Centauri3.90
- HIP 659363.90
- Sigma Centauri3.91
- HIP 718654.01
- Psi Centauri4.05