4 Centauri

Above the horizon. Rise: 20:27 | Tran: 22:59 | Set: 1:35

Alt: 6.44° Az: 181.91° Direction: South

4 Centauri is a double sub-giant star of spectral class B4 in the constellation of Centaurus.

4 Centauri visual magnitude is 4.73. Because of its moderate brightness, 4 Centauri is easily visible to the naked eye from locations with dark skies, while it might be barely visible, or not visible at all, from light-polluted skies.

DSS2 image of 4 Centauri. The red arrow shows the motion of 4 Centauri during the next 10000 years (-2.50 arcmin in Right Ascension and -2.00 arcmin in declination);

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

Right Ascension 13h 54m 40s

Declination -32° 03’ 07”

Hour Angle 00h 08m 58s

Sidereal Time 14h 03m 39s

J2000

Right Ascension 13h 53m 12s

Declination -31° 55’ 40”

Galactic Coordinates

Galactic Longitude 317.93°

Galactic Latitude 29.14°

Finder Chart

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Finder chart for 4 Centauri.

Magnitude, Color, Spectral Class

Color ⬤

Magnitude 4.73

Class Sub-giant

Absolute magnitude -1.83

Spectral Type B4IV

Color Index (B-V) -0.14

Temperature 12293K

The red dot in the diagram below shows where 4 Centauri is situated in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram.

H-R diagram showing the position of 4 Centauri. Attribution: Richard Powell / CC BY-SA

Star System Properties

4 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 4 Centauri double sysyem:

Main star magnitude 4.73

Secondary star magnitude 8.43

Magnitude difference 3.7

Separation 14.9 arcsec

Distance, Radial Speed, Proper Motion

4 Centauri is distant 669.40 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 5 kilometers per second.

Distance (parsec) 205.34

Distance (light year) 669.40

Radial Speed 5 km/s

Proper Motion RA -0.015 arcsec/y

Proper Motion Dec -0.012"/y

Alternative Designations

Flamsteed designation 4 Centauri

Henry Draper Catalogue HD120955

SAO Catalogue SAO204944

Hipparcos Catalogue HIP67786

Durchmusterung Catalogue CD-3110729

Visibility from Your Location

Today's 4 Centauri rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, UK are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 122.1° RISE 20:27

Max altitude: 6.5° TRANSIT 22:59

Azimuth: 237.9° SET 1:35

Set Location

Other stars in Centaurus