Star profile

Menkent

Theta Centauri · Centaurus

3D likeness based on its real data · class K · ~4,200 K

What is Menkent

Menkent is a near neighbour at only 58.8 light-years: an orange giant that has exhausted the hydrogen in its core and is slowly swelling. Her name, from the Arabic «mankib al-qantūris», means 'the shoulder of the centaur', a modest anatomical point on an enormous mythic figure. Though unassuming to the unaided eye, her proximity makes her one of the most studied stellar laboratories of the southern sky.

Where it is and when to see it

Menkent 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 culminates about 2° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 13° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 88° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere south of 54° N.

It ranks no. 4 in brightness among the 174 stars of Centaurus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Rigil Kentaurus, the brightest: it lies about 25° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 59 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Menkent

Constellation: Centaurus
Apparent magnitude: 2.06
Distance: 58.8 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 211.671° · Dec -36.370°
Catalogue: HIP 68933 · HD 123139

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Other stars in Centaurus

Centaurus has 174 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 174 stars in Centaurus