Stars · Star in Centaurus
Star
Rigil Kentaurus
The nearest star you can see with the naked eye — a pair of Sun-like stars 4.4 light-years away, with a tiny red third, Proxima, nearer still.
- Constellation
- Centaurus
- Designation
- α¹ Centauri
- Apparent magnitude
- -0.27 · 3rd brightest star in the night sky
- Spectral class
- G2V
- Distance
- 4.3 light-years
- Position (J2000)
- RA 14h 40m · Dec −60° 50′
A yellow main-sequence star, around 5,800 K, like the Sun. About 510× brighter than the faintest star the eye can see. The light you are seeing left in 2022.
Science
The two bright stars circle each other every 80 years; any small telescope splits them. Proxima Centauri, two degrees away, has at least one planet in the zone where water could be liquid.
Look for
With Hadar it makes the Pointers, which lead the eye to the Southern Cross.
Did you know
Its light takes about four years and four months to reach you: what you see tonight left it that long ago.