Nu Centauri, a blue subgiant star in Centaurus
Nu Centauri is a blue subgiant star in the constellation Centaurus. At 436 light years away, it is the 260th brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 3.41.
Nu Centauri (HIP 67464)
Nu Centauri is a blue subgiant star in the constellation Centaurus. At 436 light years away, it is the 260th brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 3.41. Nu Centauri is a component of a multiple-star system and an intrinsic variable star that varies between magntitudes 3.31 and 3.34 over a period of 2.62 days. It is moving through the Galaxy at a speed of 21.8 km/s relative to the Sun.
Sky position: RA 13h 49.5m, Dec -41° 41.4'
Common designations: Nu Centauri, HIP 67464, HD 120307, HR 5190
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Brightest stars in Centaurus:
(list all)
| Rank | Mag. | Star |
| 4 | 2.06 | Menkent |
| 5 | 2.20 | Gamma Centauri |
| 6 | 2.29 | Epsilon Centauri |
| 7 | 2.33 | Eta Centauri |
| 8 | 2.55 | Zeta Centauri |
| 9 | 2.58 | Delta Centauri |
| 10 | 2.75 | Iota Centauri |
| 11 | 3.11 | Lambda Centauri |
| 12 | 3.13 | Kappa Centauri |
13
| 3.41
) Nu Centauri
| Rank | Mag. | Star |
| 14 | 3.47 | Mu Centauri |
| 15 | 3.83 | Phi Centauri |
| 16 | 3.85 | Tau Centauri |
| 17 | 3.87 | Upsilon-1 Centauri |
| 18 | 3.90 | Pi Centauri |
| 19 | 3.90 | d Centauri |
| 20 | 3.91 | Sigma Centauri |
Hover over other bright stars to identify or click to jump.
Galactic Orbit of Nu Centauri
(compared to the Sun)
E
ccentricity: 8.2% vs. 16.0%Angle φ : 143.8°vs. 26.0°
Semi-major axis : 6,873 pc vs. 8,686 pc
Semi-minor axis: 6,849 pc vs. 8,574 pc
Focus-to-center
: 567 pcvs. 1,388 pcSemilatus rectum : 6,826 pc vs. 8,464 pc
Perigalacticon: 6,306 pc vs. 7,297 pc
Apogalacticon
: 7,439 pcvs. 10,074 pcSome Tabulated XHIP Data for Nu Centauri
(see also: SIMBAD)
Astrometry
2007A&A...474..653V
| Position | Proper Motion | |
| Right Ascension: | 207.37623896° ±0.13 mas | -24.60 ±0.90 mas/yr. |
| Declination: | -41.68765986° ±0.09 mas | -20.50 ±0.90 mas/yr. |
| Galactic Longitude: | 314.41392229° | -28.76 mas/yr. |
| Galactic Latitude: | 19.88583291° | -14.08 mas/yr. |
Parallax: 7.47 ± 0.17 mas
Spectrography
Spectral Type: B2 IV 1978MSS...C02....0H.
Radial Velocity:
8.00 ±2.00 km/s [D rating]
2006AstL...32..759G.
This star is a spectroscopic binary with an unsolved orbit.
Iron Abundance [Fe/H]:
n/a
Photometry
band
magnitude
Abs. Mag.
U
2.31
-3.32
B
3.19
-2.45
V
3.41
-2.22
R
I
3.61
-2.02
J
4.01
-1.62
H
4.14
-1.49
K
4.24
-1.39
B-V: -0.22 V-I: -0.20
Derivations
Heliocentric distance: 133.79 pc (2.3% margin of error)
Galactocentric distance: 7,313 pc
Transverse velocity: 20.3 km/s
3D heliocentric position and motion:
|
toward: |
Galactic center | Galactic rotation | North Galactic Pole |
| Position ( X, Y, Z) | 88.0 pc | -89.9 pc | 45.5 pc |
| Velocity (U, V, W) | -5.6 km/s | -20.3 km/s | -5.7 km/s |