Constellation Centaur (Centaurus)
Centaur is one of the 88 constellations that carve up the sky. It sits in the far southern sky and rides highest overhead around April.
Bright stars in Centaur
| Name | Bayer | Magnitude | Type | Distance (ly) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rigil Kentaurus | alpha Cen | -0.01 | G2V | 4.4 |
| Hadar | beta Cen | 0.61 | B1III | 392.0 |
About the constellation
The constellation Centaur (Latin Centaurus) lies in the far southern sky. It passes highest around midnight in April, so the weeks around then are the easiest time to track it down. Its brightest star is Rigil Kentaurus, at magnitude -0.0, easy to pick out even from a lit-up city. From most of the southern hemisphere it climbs into view at some point in the year. Astronomers label its stars with the genitive form Centauri, as in "Alpha Centauri".
Other constellations
And Ant Aps Aql Aqr Ara Ari Aur Boo Cae Cam Cnc CVn CMa CMi Cap Car Cas Cep Cet Cha Cir Col Com CrA CrB Crv Crt Cru Cyg Del Dor Dra Equ Eri For Gem Gru Her Hor Hya Hyi Ind Lac Leo LMi Lep Lib Lup Lyn Lyr Men Mic Mon Mus Nor Oct Oph Ori Pav Peg Per Phe Pic Psc PsA Pup Pyx Ret Sge Sgr Sco Scl Sct Ser Sex Tau Tel Tri TrA Tuc UMa UMi Vel Vir Vol Vul