Star profile
Epsilon Centauri
Variable starWhat is Epsilon Centauri
Epsilon Centauri is a blue giant some 430 light-years away, nearly twelve solar masses and over fifteen thousand times the Sun's luminosity. It belongs to the rare lineage of Beta Cephei variables: every four hours it imperceptibly contracts and swells, beating like a young heart barely sixteen million years old. When it appears in the southern sky, it always does so with that same secret cadence.
Where it is and when to see it
Epsilon 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 May, 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 70° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 37° N.
It ranks no. 6 in brightness among the 174 stars of Centaurus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Rigil Kentaurus, the brightest: it lies about 11° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 430 years ago.
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Astronomical data for Epsilon Centauri
- Constellation
- Centaurus
- Apparent magnitude
- 2.29
- Distance
- 427.5 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 204.972° · Dec -53.466°
- Catalogue
- HIP 66657 · HD 118716
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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
- MenkentTheta Centauri2.06
- Gamma Centauri2.20
- Eta Centauri2.33
- Zeta Centauri2.55
- Delta Centauri2.58