Star profile
Zeta Centauri
Hot blue starWhat is Zeta Centauri
ζ Centauri burns at 382 light-years, a blue-white B-type sun set among the legs of the Centaur. Its glow is not the soft fire of an aging star but the fierce shine of a young, hot body that devours hydrogen at a rate the Sun will never know. The light reaching our sky tonight left that surface when Gothic cathedrals were first rising across Europe.
Where it is and when to see it
Zeta 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 culminates about 2° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 77° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 43° N.
It ranks no. 8 in brightness among the 174 stars of Centaurus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Rigil Kentaurus, the brightest: it lies about 15° 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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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 Zeta Centauri
- Constellation
- Centaurus
- Apparent magnitude
- 2.55
- Distance
- 382.0 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 208.885° · Dec -47.288°
- Catalogue
- HIP 68002 · HD 121263
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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
- Gamma Centauri2.20
- Epsilon Centauri2.29
- Eta Centauri2.33
- Delta Centauri2.58
- Iota Centauri2.75