τ Centauri (tau Centauri)

Altitude: -14.0° Azimuth: 158.0° Direction: South-South-East

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

τ Centauri visual magnitude is 3.86. Because of its moderate brightness, τ Centauri should be easily visible from locations with dark skyes, while it can be barely visible, or not visible at all, from skyes affected by light pollution.

The table below summarizes the key facts about τ Centauri:

Color of τ Centauri ⬤

Magnitude of τ Centauri 3.86

Class Main-sequence

VISIBILITY RIGHT NOW

τ Centauri (tau Centauri) is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Altitude: -14.0°
Azimuth: 158.0°
Direction: South-South-East

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of τ Centauri

τ 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 τ Centauri are provided in the following table:

Right Ascension J2000 12h 37m 42s

Declination J2000 -48° 32’ 27”

Galactic Longitude 300.59°

Galactic Latitude 14.27°

Constellation Centaurus

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

Finder chart τ Centauri (tau Centauri) star

Simplified finder chart for τ Centauri (tau Centauri).

Visibility of τ Centauri from your location

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

τ Centauri (tau Centauri) is currently not visible from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt

Digitized Sky Survey image of τ Centauri

The image below is a photograph of τ 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 τ Centauri is -0.184 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.005 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 1000 years is represented with the red arrow.

DSS2 image of τ Centauri. The red arrow shows the motion of τ Centauri during the next 1000 years (-3.07 arcmin in Right Ascension and -0.08 arcmin in declination);

Distance of τ Centauri from the Sun and relative movement

τ Centauri is distant 131.61 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 5 kilometers per second.

Distance (parsec) 40.37 pc

Distance (light year) 131.61 ly

Heliocentric radial velocity 5 km/s

Proper Motion RA -0.184 arcsec/year

Proper Motion Dec -0.005 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of τ Centauri

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

Absolute magnitude 0.83

Spectral Type A2V

Color Index (B-V) 0.05

Temperature of τ Centauri 9542K

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

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

Alternative designations of τ Centauri

Bayer designation τ Centauri
(tau Centauri)

Henry Draper Catalogue HD109787

SAO Catalogue SAO223560

Hipparcos Catalogue HIP61622

Durchmusterung Catalogue CD-47 7745

In Evidence

Other stars in Centaurus