Zeta Centauri, a blue subgiant star in Centaurus
Zeta Centauri is a blue subgiant star in the constellation Centaurus. At 382 light years away, it is the 96th brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 2.55.
Zeta Centauri (HIP 68002)
Zeta Centauri is a blue subgiant star in the constellation Centaurus. At 382 light years away, it is the 96th brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 2.55. It is moving through the Galaxy at a speed of 40.8 km/s relative to the Sun. Its projected Galactic orbit carries it between 16,700 and 23,900 light years from the center of the Galaxy.
Sky position: RA 13h 55.5m, Dec -47° 17.4'
Common designations: Zeta Centauri, HIP 68002, HD 121263, HR 5231
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Brightest stars in Centaurus:
(list all)
1
| -0.01
| Rank | Mag. | Star |
| 2 | 0.61 | Hadar |
| 3 | 1.35 | Alpha Centauri B |
| 4 | 2.06 | Menkent |
| 5 | 2.20 | Gamma Centauri |
| 6 | 2.29 | Epsilon Centauri |
| 7 | 2.33 | Eta Centauri |
8
| 2.55
) Zeta Centauri
| Rank | Mag. | Star |
| 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 |
| 15 | 3.83 | Phi Centauri |
| 16 | 3.85 | Tau Centauri |
| 17 | 3.87 | Upsilon-1 Centauri |
Hover over other bright stars to identify or click to jump.
Galactic Orbit of Zeta Centauri
(compared to the Sun)
E
ccentricity: 17.7% vs. 16.0%Angle φ : -175.0°vs. 26.0°
Semi-major axis : 6,226 pc vs. 8,686 pc
Semi-minor axis: 6,128 pc vs. 8,574 pc
Focus-to-center
: 1,101 pcvs. 1,388 pcSemilatus rectum : 6,031 pc vs. 8,464 pc
Perigalacticon: 5,125 pc vs. 7,297 pc
Apogalacticon
: 7,327 pcvs. 10,074 pcSome Tabulated XHIP Data for Zeta Centauri
(see also: SIMBAD)
Astrometry
2007A&A...474..653V
| Position | Proper Motion | |
| Right Ascension: | 208.88514577° ±0.11 mas | -57.37 ±0.10 mas/yr. |
| Declination: | -47.28826623° ±0.08 mas | -44.55 ±0.08 mas/yr. |
| Galactic Longitude: | 314.06890342° | -66.79 mas/yr. |
| Galactic Latitude: | 14.19257311° | -28.56 mas/yr. |
Parallax: 8.54 ± 0.13 mas
Spectrography
Spectral Type: B2.5 IV 1978MSS...C02....0H.
Radial Velocity:
6.50 ±7.40 km/s [D rating]
2007AN....328..889K.
This star is a spectroscopic binary with an unsolved orbit.
Iron Abundance [Fe/H]:
n/a
Photometry
band
magnitude
Abs. Mag.
U
1.42
-3.92
B
2.37
-2.97
V
2.55
-2.79
R
I
2.68
-2.67
J
3.02
-2.32
H
3.08
-2.26
K
3.22
-2.12
B-V: -0.18 V-I: -0.13
Derivations
Heliocentric distance: 117.06 pc (1.5% margin of error)
Galactocentric distance: 7,322 pc
Transverse velocity: 40.3 km/s
3D heliocentric position and motion:
|
toward: |
Galactic center | Galactic rotation | North Galactic Pole |
| Position ( X, Y, Z) | 78.9 pc | -81.5 pc | 28.7 pc |
| Velocity (U, V, W) | -19.5 km/s | -33.1 km/s | -13.8 km/s |