Star profile
Sigma Centauri
Hot blue starWhat is Sigma Centauri
Sigma Centauri is a blue-white star, young and hot, burning on the flank of the Centaur at more than four hundred light-years from us. Its surface exceeds ten thousand degrees, a temperature that gives it a cold cobalt hue perceptible even to the naked eye on a dark night. The light now reaching Earth set out when the Italian Renaissance was bearing its first fruits and Florence was filling its workshops with painters and engineers.
Where it is and when to see it
Sigma 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 74° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 40° N.
It ranks no. 20 in brightness among the 174 stars of Centaurus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Rigil Kentaurus, the brightest: it lies about 21° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 410 years ago.
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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 Sigma Centauri
- Constellation
- Centaurus
- Apparent magnitude
- 3.91
- Distance
- 411.9 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 187.010° · Dec -50.231°
- Catalogue
- HIP 60823 · HD 108483
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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
- Upsilon 1 Centauri3.87
- Pi Centauri3.90
- HIP 659363.90
- Rho Centauri3.97
- HIP 718654.01