Arabic star names / Rigil Kentaurus
Rigil Kentaurus
رجل قنطورس
Rigil Kentaurus comes from the Arabic رجل قنطورس (Rijl Qanṭūris), which means “the centaur's foot”. It is the 4th-brightest star in the sky, in Centaurus.
- Brightness
- -0.01
- Colour
- yellow
- Constellation
- Centaurus
- Best seen
- June evenings
- Right ascension
- 14h 40m
- Declination
- −60° 50′
The name
Alpha Centauri, the nearest star system to the Sun, 4.37 light-years away. From most of Saudi Arabia it only just clears the southern horizon.
Where you can see it
It rises everywhere south of 29°N. From Riyadh it climbs to 4° above the horizon. Never rises over London. From Sydney it climbs to 63° above the horizon.
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