Gamma Centauri (Muhlifain)
Gamma Centauri (Muhlifain) is a star in the constellation Centaurus, magnitude 2.2.
One point of light, two white stars — and probably a far-flung third in Tau Centauri.
To the naked eye Gamma Centauri is one star. It is really a pair of near-twins: two white stars, each about 2.8 times the Sun’s mass and around 100 times as luminous, circling each other every 84.5 years. Their orbit is wide — some 93 times the Earth–Sun distance, more than twice as far as Pluto is from the Sun. Astronomers have tracked the pair since 1897.
Both are A-type subgiants, just starting to swell into giants. And they are probably not alone. Tau Centauri shares their path through space, with a 98 per cent chance that it is gravitationally bound to them, which would make this a wide triple system.
Gamma Centauri (Muhlifain) is 130 light-years away: the light we see from it set off around 1895, 7 years before the Wright brothers made the first powered flight.
Did you know?
- The Eagle-hawk. The Aranda and Luritja people around Hermannsburg in Central Australia saw it, with Delta Centauri, Delta Crucis and Gacrux, as Iritjinga, the Eagle-hawk.
- Two names, one root. Its proper name, Muhlifain, shares an Arabic root with Muliphein in Canis Major — two different stars, easily confused.
- Seventh star of the Arsenal. In Chinese astronomy it is Kù Lóu qī, the Seventh Star of the Arsenal, the same ten-star asterism that includes Menkent.
A white 2nd-magnitude star in the Centaur. Extend the long axis of the Southern Cross, from Acrux through Gacrux, by about one and a half times the Cross’s length to land on it.
When and where to see it
It is best placed in the evening sky around May, when it crosses the meridian at about 10 pm local time (around midnight in April). It can be seen from everywhere south of 41°N and never sets south of 41°S.
At its highest it stands below the horizon from 50°N, 6° up from 35°N, 41° up from the equator, 76° up from 35°S.
Facts
- Type
- Star
- Constellation
- Centaurus
- Designations
- Muhlifain, γ Cen, HR 4819, HD 110304, HIP 61932
- Magnitude
- 2.2
- Position
- RA 12h 41.5m, Dec −48° 58′ (J2000)
- Spectral type
- A1IV+A0IV
- Colour
- white (B−V -0.01)
- Distance
- 130 light-years
- Discovered
- Known since antiquity
Open AstroPilot to see when Gamma Centauri (Muhlifain) is highest tonight from your location, how easy it is with your telescope or binoculars, and an eyepiece view.