Mu Centauri, a blue main-sequence star in Centaurus
Mu Centauri is a blue main-sequence star in the constellation Centaurus. At 505 light years away, it is the 277th brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 3.47.
Mu Centauri (HIP 67472)
Mu Centauri is a blue main-sequence star in the constellation Centaurus. At 505 light years away, it is the 277th brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 3.47. Mu Centauri is the primary component of a multiple-star system. It is moving through the Galaxy at a speed of 24.3 km/s relative to the Sun. Its projected Galactic orbit carries it between 19,700 and 24,100 light years from the center of the Galaxy.
Sky position: RA 13h 49.6m, Dec -42° 28.2'
Common designations: Mu Centauri, HIP 67472, HD 120324, HR 5193
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Brightest stars in Centaurus:
(list all)
| Rank | Mag. | Star |
| 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 |
14
| 3.47
) Mu Centauri
| Rank | Mag. | Star |
| 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 |
| 21 | 3.97 | Rho Centauri |
Hover over other bright stars to identify or click to jump.
Galactic Orbit of Mu Centauri
(compared to the Sun)
E
ccentricity: 10.1% vs. 16.0%Angle φ : 153.1°vs. 26.0°
Semi-major axis : 6,711 pc vs. 8,686 pc
Semi-minor axis: 6,676 pc vs. 8,574 pc
Focus-to-center
: 677 pcvs. 1,388 pcSemilatus rectum : 6,642 pc vs. 8,464 pc
Perigalacticon: 6,034 pc vs. 7,297 pc
Apogalacticon
: 7,387 pcvs. 10,074 pcSome Tabulated XHIP Data for Mu Centauri
(see also: SIMBAD)
Astrometry
2007A&A...474..653V
| Position | Proper Motion | |
| Right Ascension: | 207.40419920° ±0.12 mas | -24.24 ±0.14 mas/yr. |
| Declination: | -42.47368514° ±0.08 mas | -18.64 ±0.08 mas/yr. |
| Galactic Longitude: | 314.23777600° | -27.96 mas/yr. |
| Galactic Latitude: | 19.11726460° | -12.38 mas/yr. |
Parallax: 6.45 ± 0.16 mas
Spectrography
Spectral Type: B2Vnep 2006MNRAS.371..252L.
Radial Velocity: 9.20 ±2.70 km/s [A rating] 2006AstL...32..759G.
Iron Abundance [Fe/H]:
n/a
Photometry
band
magnitude
Abs. Mag.
U
2.15
-3.80
B
3.30
-2.65
V
3.47
-2.48
R
I
3.65
-2.30
J
H
K
B-V: -0.17 V-I: -0.18
Derivations
Heliocentric distance: 154.92 pc (2.5% margin of error)
Galactocentric distance: 7,299 pc
Transverse velocity: 22.5 km/s
3D heliocentric position and motion:
|
toward: |
Galactic center | Galactic rotation | North Galactic Pole |
| Position ( X, Y, Z) | 102.1 pc | -104.9 pc | 50.7 pc |
| Velocity (U, V, W) | -6.6 km/s | -22.7 km/s | -5.6 km/s |