Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 5, 2026

G Centauri

G Centauri is a single star in the southern constellation of Centaurus. It is visible to the naked eye as a faint, blue-white hued star with an apparent visual magnitude of +4.82. This object is located approximately 450 light years from the Sun, based on parallax. It is a member of the Lower Centaurus–Crux group of the Scorpius–Centaurus association, with the former having an age of about 17 million years.

Last revised
Jun 5, 2026
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≈ 3 min
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G Centauri
Location of G Centauri (circled in red)
Observation data
Epoch J2000      Equinox J2000
Constellation Centaurus1
Right ascension 12h 26m 31.75955s2
Declination −51° 27′ 02.2899″2
Apparent magnitude (V) 4.821
Characteristics
Spectral type B3V(n)3
B−V color index −0.141±0.0021
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)+5.0±4.21 km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: −30.662 mas/yr
Dec.: −10.132 mas/yr
Parallax (π)7.28±0.24 mas2
Distance450 ± 10 ly
(137 ± 5 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)−0.871
Details
Mass6.2±0.14 M
Radius3.425 R
Luminosity483.061 L
Temperature13,7326 K
Metallicity [Fe/H]−0.38±0.067 dex
Rotational velocity (v sin i)298±128 km/s
Age15.8±0.24 Myr
Other designations
G Cen, CD−50°6975, GC 16954, HD 108257, HIP 60710, HR 4732, SAO 239948, CCDM J12265-51279
Database references
SIMBADdata

G Centauri is a single10 star in the southern constellation of Centaurus. It is visible to the naked eye as a faint, blue-white hued star with an apparent visual magnitude of +4.82. This object is located approximately 450 light years from the Sun, based on parallax.2 It is a member of the Lower Centaurus–Crux group of the Scorpius–Centaurus association, with the former having an age of about 17 million years.11

This object is a B-type main-sequence star with a stellar classification of B3V(n),3 where the 'n' indicates "nebulous" (broad) lines due to rapid rotation. It is around 164 million years old with a projected rotational velocity of up to 298 km/s.8 The star has six4 times the mass of the Sun and 3.45 times the Sun's radius. It is radiating 4831 times the luminosity of the Sun from its photosphere at an effective temperature of 13,732 K.6 An infrared excess indicates a circumstellar disk of dust with a mean temperature of 50 K is orbiting the star at a separation of 717.8 AU.5

References

References

  1. Anderson, E.; Francis, Ch. (2012). "XHIP: An extended hipparcos compilation". Astronomy Letters. 38 (5): 331. arXiv:1108.4971. Bibcode:2012AstL...38..331A. doi:10.1134/S1063773712050015. XHIP record for this object at VizieR.
  2. van Leeuwen, F. (2007), "Validation of the new Hipparcos reduction", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 474 (2): 653–664, arXiv:0708.1752, Bibcode:2007A&A...474..653V, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20078357, S2CID 18759600.
  3. Houk, Nancy (1978), Michigan catalogue of two-dimensional spectral types for the HD stars, vol. 2, Ann Arbor: Dept. of Astronomy, University of Michigan, Bibcode:1978mcts.book.....H.
  4. Tetzlaff, N.; et al. (January 2011), "A catalogue of young runaway Hipparcos stars within 3 kpc from the Sun", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 410 (1): 190–200, arXiv:1007.4883, Bibcode:2011MNRAS.410..190T, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.17434.x, S2CID 118629873.
  5. Cotten, Tara H.; Song, Inseok (July 2016), "A Comprehensive Census of Nearby Infrared Excess Stars", The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 225 (1): 24, arXiv:1606.01134, Bibcode:2016ApJS..225...15C, doi:10.3847/0067-0049/225/1/15, S2CID 118438871, 15.
  6. McDonald, I.; et al. (2012), "Fundamental parameters and infrared excesses of Hipparcos stars", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 427 (1): 343–357, arXiv:1208.2037, Bibcode:2012MNRAS.427..343M, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.21873.x, S2CID 118665352.
  7. Gáspár, András; et al. (2016), "The Correlation between Metallicity and Debris Disk Mass", The Astrophysical Journal, 826 (2): 171, arXiv:1604.07403, Bibcode:2016ApJ...826..171G, doi:10.3847/0004-637X/826/2/171, S2CID 119241004.
  8. Brown, A. G. A.; Verschueren, W. (1997), "High S/N Echelle spectroscopy in young stellar groups. II. Rotational velocities of early-type stars in SCO OB2", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 319: 811, arXiv:astro-ph/9608089, Bibcode:1997A&A...319..811B. Note: "The He i λ4026 line in this star is broader than the models. The value of vsini may thus be overestimated."
  9. "G Cen". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
  10. Eggleton, P. P.; Tokovinin, A. A. (September 2008), "A catalogue of multiplicity among bright stellar systems", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 389 (2): 869–879, arXiv:0806.2878, Bibcode:2008MNRAS.389..869E, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.13596.x, S2CID 14878976.
  11. Jang-Condell, Hannah; et al. (August 2015), "Spitzer IRS Spectra of Debris Disks in the Scorpius–Centaurus OB Association", The Astrophysical Journal, 808 (2): 19, arXiv:1506.05428, Bibcode:2015ApJ...808..167J, doi:10.1088/0004-637X/808/2/167, S2CID 118549483, 167.