ι Centauri (iota Centauri)

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

ι Centauri visual magnitude is 2.75. Thanks to its high brightness, ι Centauri is clearly visible when observed from locations with dark skyes, and should be also quite easily visible from light polluted areas.

The table below summarizes the key facts about ι Centauri:

Color of ι Centauri ⬤

Magnitude of ι Centauri 2.75

Class Main-sequence

VISIBILITY RIGHT NOW ι Centauri (iota Centauri) is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of ι Centauri

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

Right Ascension J2000 13h 20m 35s

Declination J2000 -36° 42’ 43”

Galactic Longitude 309.42°

Galactic Latitude 25.79°

Constellation Centaurus

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

Finder chart ι Centauri (iota Centauri) star

Simplified finder chart for ι Centauri (iota Centauri).

Visibility of ι Centauri from your location

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

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

Azimuth: 126.7° RISE 0:01

Max altitude: 1.8° TRANSIT 1:23

Azimuth: 233.3° SET 2:44

RIGHT NOW ι Centauri (iota Centauri) is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom

Digitized Sky Survey image of ι Centauri

The image below is a photograph of ι 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 ι Centauri is -0.341 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.085 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 1000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of ι Centauri (iota Centauri) star

DSS2 image of ι Centauri. The red arrow shows the motion of ι Centauri during the next 1000 years (-5.68 arcmin in Right Ascension and -1.42 arcmin in declination);

Distance of ι Centauri from the Sun and relative movement

ι Centauri is distant 58.59 light years from the Sun

Distance (parsec) 17.97 pc

Distance (light year) 58.59 ly

Proper Motion RA -0.341 arcsec/year

Proper Motion Dec -0.085 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of ι Centauri

ι Centauri belongs to spectral class A2 and has a luminosity class of V corresponding to a main-sequence star.

Absolute magnitude 1.48

Spectral Type A2V

Color Index (B-V) 0.04

Temperature of ι Centauri 9652K

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

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

Alternative designations of ι Centauri

Bayer designation ι Centauri
(iota Centauri)

Henry Draper Catalogue HD115892

SAO Catalogue SAO204371

Hipparcos Catalogue HIP65109

Durchmusterung Catalogue CD-36 8497

Gliese Catalogue Gl 508.1

FK5 Catalogue 496

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