Centaurus

Overview

Centaurus (Centauri) — The Centaur is one of the 88 modern constellations recognised by the International Astronomical Union.

Highlights

• ★Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to the Sun
• ★The globular cluster Omega Centauri (NGC 5139)

Notable stars

102 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.

• Rigil Kentaurusmag -0.01
• Tolimanmag 1.35
• Menkentmag 2.06
• Gamma Centaurimag 2.2
• Epsilon Centaurimag 2.29
• Eta Centaurimag 2.33
• Zeta Centaurimag 2.55
• Delta Centaurimag 2.58
• Iota Centaurimag 2.75
• Lambda Centaurimag 3.11
• Kappa Centaurimag 3.13
• Nu Centaurimag 3.41

Deep-sky objects

• lam Cen Nebula
• Pearl Cluster
• NGC 5138
• Omega Centauri
• NGC 5662
• NGC 5460
• NGC 5281
• NGC 5316
• NGC 5617
• Centaurus A
• NGC 3680
• NGC 5606
• Blue Planetary
• NGC 3960
• NGC 5286
• NGC 4852
• NGC 5168
• NGC 4230
• IC 4291
• NGC 5102
• NGC 4945

Neighbouring constellations

Knowledge connections

• IncludesHadar
• Constellation ofRigil Kentaurus
• Constellation ofToliman
• Constellation ofMenkent
• Constellation ofGamma Centauri
• Constellation ofEpsilon Centauri
• Constellation ofEta Centauri
• Constellation ofZeta Centauri
• Constellation ofDelta Centauri
• Constellation ofIota Centauri
• Constellation ofLambda Centauri
• Constellation ofKappa Centauri
• Constellation ofNu Centauri
• Constellation ofMu Centauri
• Constellation ofPhi Centauri
• Constellation ofTau Centauri
• Constellation ofHR 5249
• Constellation ofHR 5089
• Constellation ofPi Centauri
• Constellation ofSigma Centauri
• Constellation ofRho Centauri
• Constellation ofHR 5471
• Constellation ofPsi Centauri
• Constellation ofHR 5485

Sources

The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.

• IAUInternational Astronomical Union

  Official naming, definitions, constellation boundaries, and astronomical nomenclature.