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Centaurus

Genitive: Centauri

Southern 1060 sq° Cen

Brightest star: Alpha Centauri

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Mythology

Represents Chiron, the wise and gentle centaur who tutored heroes like Achilles and Jason. Unlike other centaurs, Chiron was known for his knowledge of medicine and arts.

Observing Highlights

Contains Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to the Sun, and the magnificent globular cluster Omega Centauri (NGC 5139), the largest globular in the Milky Way.

Main Stars

20
Rigil Kentaurus

HIP 71681; Alpha1 Cen

-0.01 mag 20.9″ B: 1.3 G2V
Agena

HIP 68702; Beta Cen

0.61 mag 0.2″ B: 4.0 B1II-III
Rigil Kentaurus

HIP 71681; Alpha2 Cen

1.33 mag 8.1″ B: 1.3 K1V
Menkent

HIP 68933; Theta Cen; 5 Cen

2.06 mag K0III
Gamma Cen

HIP 61932; Gamma Cen

2.17 mag 0.6″ B: 2.9 A1IV+
Epsilon Cen

HIP 66657; Epsilon Cen

2.30 mag B1 III
Eta Cen

HIP 71352; Eta Cen

2.31 mag B1.5 VN
Zeta Cen

HIP 68002; Zeta Cen

2.55 mag B2.5 IV
Delta Cen

HIP 59196; Delta Cen

2.60 mag 269.1″ B: 4.4 B2Vne
Iota Cen

HIP 65109; Iota Cen

2.75 mag A2 V
Mu Cen

HIP 67472; Mu Cen

3.04 mag B2Vnep
Lambda Cen

HIP 56561; Lambda Cen

3.13 mag 14.8″ B: 11.5 A1III
Kappa Cen

HIP 73334; Kappa Cen

3.13 mag 4.0″ B: 11.5 B2 IV
Nu Cen

HIP 67464; Nu Cen

3.41 mag B2 IV
Phi Cen

HIP 68245; Phi Cen

3.83 mag B2 V
Tau Cen

HIP 61622; Tau Cen

3.86 mag A1IVnn
Upsilon Cen

HIP 68282; Upsilon1 Cen

3.87 mag B2 IV/V
HIP 65936
3.88 mag 0.1″ B: 5.0 G8 II/III
Pi Cen

HIP 55425; Pi Cen

3.89 mag 0.4″ B: 5.7 B5V
Sigma Cen

HIP 60823; Sigma Cen

3.91 mag 0.1″ B: 6.6 B2 V

Double Stars

15
Rigil Kentaurus

HIP 71681; Alpha2 Cen

1.33 mag 8.1″ B: 1.3 K1V
Rigil Kentaurus

HIP 71681; Alpha1 Cen

-0.01 mag 20.9″ B: 1.3 G2V
HIP 70264
4.92 mag 9.1″ B: 7.6 G8III+F5V
3 Cen

HIP 67669; 3 Cen

4.56 mag 7.8″ B: 6.0 B5IIIp
3 Cen

HIP 67669; 3 Cen

6.06 mag 7.9″ B: 6.0 B8V
HIP 56000
5.08 mag 13.2″ B: 7.4 B9V
HIP 67703
5.25 mag 18.5″ B: 7.5 B9V
4 Cen

HIP 67786; 4 Cen

4.73 mag 14.8″ B: 8.5 B4IV
HIP 59654
5.31 mag 2.7″ B: 7.0 K3III
HIP 66821
5.01 mag 5.6″ B: 6.5 B8Vn
HIP 60549
6.25 mag 10.0″ B: 8.4 K2-3III
HIP 67408
6.53 mag 11.9″ B: 10.2 G3IV-V
V790 Cen

HR 5034

6.18 mag 10.0″ B: 9.6 B2.5Vn
HIP 65479
5.31 mag 22.0″ B: 10.9 F2III
V766 Cen

HIP 67261

6.51 mag 9.3″ B: 9.9 K00-Iae

Variable Stars

5
R Cen

HIP 69754

6.39 mag 5.30 - 11.80 M M5IIe
T Cen

HIP 66825

6.05 mag 5.56 - 8.44 RVA K0e-M4IIe
V744 Cen

HIP 66666

6.00 mag 4.83 - 6.95 SRB M5III
V716 Cen

HIP 69491

6.11 mag 5.96 - 6.52 EB/KE B5Ve
V Cen

HIP 71116

6.93 mag 6.43 - 7.21 DCEP F5Ia

Deep Sky Objects

30
Open Cluster (12)
Caldwell 97

NGC 3766

5.3 mag 12
NGC 5460
5.6 mag 25.
NGC 5662
5.5 mag 12.
NGC 5316
6.0 mag 14.
NGC 5617
6.3 mag 10.
NGC 5281
5.9 mag 5.
NGC 3680
7.6 mag 12.
NGC 5138
7.6 mag 8.
NGC 3960
8.3 mag 7.
NGC 4852
9.0 mag 11.
NGC 4230
9.0 mag 6.
NGC 5606
7.7 mag 3.
Globular Cluster (2)
Omega Centauri

NGC 5139

C80

3.9 mag 36
Caldwell 84

NGC 5286

7.6 mag 9
Galaxy (13)
Caldwell 83

NGC 4945

8.6 mag 20 SBc
Centaurus A

NGC 5128

C77

7.0 mag 18 S0
NGC 5253
10.6 mag 4.0 SBm
NGC 5102
9.7 mag 9.3 E-S0
NGC 5161
12.0 mag 5.4 Sc
NGC 4930
— mag 3.6 Sbc
NGC 4219
12.0 mag 4.5 Sbc
NGC 4603
12.0 mag 3.8 SABc
NGC 4835
12.0 mag 3.4 Sbc
NGC 5483
12.0 mag 3.1 Sc
NGC 5121
12.0 mag 2.3 Sa
IC 4386
— mag 3.1 Sd
NGC 3533
— mag 2.6 SABb
Planetary Nebula (2)
Blue planetary

NGC 3918

8.0 mag 0.2
NGC 3699
— mag 1.1
Emission Nebula (1)
Lambda Centauri Nebula

IC 2944

C100

4.5 mag 75