Star profile
Menkent
Theta Centauri · Centaurus
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: the Sun sits at the opposite point of the sky and the star culminates around midnight. How high it climbs above the horizon depends on the latitude you watch from.
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The signature wall
Stelvia's sky works like a signature wall: anyone can leave their name and a message on a real star, and that signature goes up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.
A signature without a lock can be replaced by someone else's. The lock makes the signature permanent and lets you choose a symbolic name for the star, always shown next to the star's catalogue identifier. How the lock works
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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 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
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
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
- Zeta Centauri2.55
- Delta Centauri2.58