3 Centauri

3 Centauri is a double main-sequence star in the constellation of Centaurus.

3 Centauri visual magnitude is 6.06. Because of its reltive faintness, 3 Centauri should be visible only from locations with dark skyes, while it is not visible at all from skyes affected by light pollution.

The table below summarizes the key facts about 3 Centauri:

Color of 3 Centauri ⬤

Magnitude of 3 Centauri 6.06

Class Main-sequence

VISIBILITY RIGHT NOW 3 Centauri is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of 3 Centauri

3 Centauri is situated south of the celestial equator, as such, it is more easily visible from the southern hemisphere. Celestial coordinates for the J2000 equinox as well as galactic coordinates of 3 Centauri are provided in the following table:

Right Ascension J2000 13h 51m 50s

Declination J2000 -32° 59’ 40”

Galactic Longitude 317.28°

Galactic Latitude 28.19°

Constellation Centaurus

The simplified sky map below shows the position of 3 Centauri in the sky:

Simplified finder chart for 3 Centauri.

Visibility of 3 Centauri from your location

Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London

Today's 3 Centauri rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 123.0° RISE 19:54

Max altitude: 5.5° TRANSIT 22:15

Azimuth: 237.0° SET 0:36

RIGHT NOW 3 Centauri is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom

Digitized Sky Survey image of 3 Centauri

The image below is a photograph of 3 Centauri from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2 - see the credits section) taken in the red channel. The area of sky represented in the image is 0.5x0.5 degrees (30x30 arcmins). The proper motion of 3 Centauri is -0.056 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.027 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 10000 years is represented with the red arrow.

DSS2 image of 3 Centauri. The red arrow shows the motion of 3 Centauri during the next 10000 years (-9.33 arcmin in Right Ascension and -4.50 arcmin in declination);

Spectral properties of 3 Centauri

3 Centauri belongs to spectral class B8 and has a luminosity class of V corresponding to a main-sequence star.

Spectral Type B8V

Color Index (B-V) -0.04

Temperature of 3 Centauri 10653K

3 Centauri star system properties

3 Centauri is a visual double star which can be observed with the help of small or medium telescopes. The table below shows key information about the 3 Centauri double sysyem:

Main star magnitude 6.06

Secondary star magnitude 7.56

Magnitude difference 1.5

Separation 7.9 arcsec

Alternative designations of 3 Centauri

Flamsteed designation 3 Centauri

Henry Draper Catalogue HD120710

SAO Catalogue SAO204917

Durchmusterung Catalogue CD-32 9676

In Evidence