# Psi Centauri

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Binary star system in the constellation Centaurus

Psi Centauri Location of ψ Centauri (circled) Observation data Epoch J2000.0 Equinox J2000.0 Constellation Centaurus Right ascension 14h 20m 33.43s[1] Declination −37° 53′ 07.1″[1] Apparent magnitude (V) +4.05[2] Characteristics Spectral type A0 IV[3] (B9 and A2)[4] U−B color index −0.11[3] B−V color index −0.03[3] Variable type eclipsing[4] Astrometry Radial velocity (Rv) 1.8±0.9[5] km/s Proper motion (μ) RA: −63.69±0.18[1] mas/yr Dec.: −10.65±0.15[1] mas/yr Parallax (π) 13.049±0.063 mas[6] Distance 250.0±1.2 ly (76.64±0.37 pc)[6] Absolute magnitude (MV) −0.35±0.14[7] Orbit[6] Period (P) 38.8121(2) d Semi-major axis (a) 0.3874±0.0017 AU Eccentricity (e) 0.550±0.001 Inclination (i) 89.20±0.13° Longitude of the node (Ω) 115.79±0.10° Argument of periastron (ω) (secondary) 19.45±0.27° Semi-amplitude (K1) (primary) 49.51±0.16 km/s Semi-amplitude (K2) (secondary) 80.48±0.33 km/s Details[6] ψ Cen A Mass 3.187±0.031 M☉ Radius 3.814±0.007 R☉ Luminosity 140+17 −15 L☉ Surface gravity (log g) 3.811±0.003[8] cgs Temperature 10,450±300 K Metallicity [Fe/H] +0.05±0.10 dex Rotation 1.49±0.26 d[4] Rotational velocity (v sin i) 123.7[8] km/s Age 280±10 Myr ψ Cen B Mass 1.961±0.015 M☉ Radius 1.896±0.004 R☉ Luminosity 17.5+2.6 −2.2 L☉ Surface gravity (log g) 4.206±0.007[8] cgs Temperature 8,800±300 K Metallicity [Fe/H] +0.05±0.10 dex Rotational velocity (v sin i) 126.9[8] km/s Age 280±10 Myr Other designations ψ Cen, CD−37°9336, FK5 1373, GC 19337, HD 125473, HIP 70090, HR 5367, SAO 205453, CCDM J14206-3753, WDS J14206-3753[9] Database references SIMBAD data

**Psi Centauri** is a [binary star](/source/Binary_star)[10] system in the southern [constellation](/source/Constellation) of [Centaurus](/source/Centaurus). Its name is a [Bayer designation](/source/Bayer_designation) that is [Latinized](/source/Romanization_of_Greek) from ψ Centauri, and abbreviated Psi Cen or ψ Cen. This system is visible to the [naked eye](/source/Naked_eye) as a point of light with a baseline [apparent visual magnitude](/source/Apparent_visual_magnitude) of +4.05.[2] The distance to this system is 250 [light years](/source/Light_year) based on [parallax](/source/Stellar_parallax).[6] The [radial velocity](/source/Radial_velocity) is poorly constrained, but it appears to be slowly drifting away from the Sun at the rate of +2 km/s.[5]

A [light curve](/source/Light_curve) for Psi Centauri, plotted from data published by Bruntt *et al.* (2006)[4]

This is a [detached](/source/Detached_binary) [eclipsing binary](/source/Eclipsing_binary) system with the secondary eclipse being total.[4] The pair are orbiting each other with a [period](/source/Orbital_period) of 38.81 days and an [eccentricity](/source/Orbital_eccentricity) of 0.55.[6]The brightness of the system dips by 0.28 and 0.16 magnitude during the two eclipses per orbit.[4] The system displays an [infrared excess](/source/Infrared_excess) at a [wavelength](/source/Wavelength) of 60 [μm](/source/%CE%9Cm), indicating the presence of a circumstellar [debris disk](/source/Debris_disk) with a temperature of 120 K, orbiting at a distance of 64 [AU](/source/Astronomical_Unit).[11]

The pair have a combined [stellar classification](/source/Stellar_classification) of A0 IV,[3] matching a white-hued [A-type](/source/Stellar_classification) [subgiant](/source/Subgiant).[2] The two components appear to be at different [evolutionary](/source/Stellar_evolution) stages.[4] Both have high rotation rates, with [projected rotational velocities](/source/Projected_rotational_velocity) over 120 km/s.[8] The primary has 3.814 times the [Sun's radius](/source/Sun's_radius) while the secondary is 1.896 times.[6] The primary showed evidence of [pulsational behavior](/source/Pulsating_variable) with 1.996 and 5.127 cycles per day,[4] which suggests it is a [slowly pulsating B star](/source/Slowly_pulsating_B_star).[8] But this remains unconfirmed as of 2017,[12] and the finding may instead be the result of instrumental error.[8]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-van_Leeuwen2007_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-van_Leeuwen2007_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-van_Leeuwen2007_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-van_Leeuwen2007_1-3) van Leeuwen, F. (2007), "Validation of the new Hipparcos reduction", *Astronomy and Astrophysics*, **474** (2): 653–664, [arXiv](/source/ArXiv_(identifier)):[0708.1752](https://arxiv.org/abs/0708.1752), [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2007A&A...474..653V](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007A&A...474..653V), [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1051/0004-6361:20078357](https://doi.org/10.1051%2F0004-6361%3A20078357), [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [18759600](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:18759600). [Vizier catalog entry](http://webviz.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-5?-out.add=.&-source=I/311/hip2&recno=69851)

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Johnson1966_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Johnson1966_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Johnson1966_2-2) Johnson, H. L.; et al. (1966), "UBVRIJKL photometry of the bright stars", *Communications of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory*, **4** (99): 99, [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[1966CoLPL...4...99J](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1966CoLPL...4...99J).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Buscombe1962_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Buscombe1962_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Buscombe1962_3-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Buscombe1962_3-3) Buscombe, W. (1962), "Spectral classification of Southern fundamental stars", *Mount Stromlo Observatory Mimeogram*, **4**: 1, [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[1962MtSOM...4....1B](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1962MtSOM...4....1B).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Bruntt2006_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Bruntt2006_4-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Bruntt2006_4-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Bruntt2006_4-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Bruntt2006_4-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-Bruntt2006_4-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-Bruntt2006_4-6) [***h***](#cite_ref-Bruntt2006_4-7) Bruntt, H.; et al. (September 2006), "Eclipsing binaries observed with the WIRE satellite. I. Discovery and photometric analysis of the new bright A0 IV eclipsing binary ψ Centauri", *Astronomy and Astrophysics*, **456** (2): 651–658, [arXiv](/source/ArXiv_(identifier)):[astro-ph/0606551](https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0606551), [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2006A&A...456..651B](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006A&A...456..651B), [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1051/0004-6361:20065628](https://doi.org/10.1051%2F0004-6361%3A20065628), [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [16701277](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:16701277).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Gontcharov2006_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Gontcharov2006_5-1) Gontcharov, G. A. (November 2006), "Pulkovo Compilation of Radial Velocities for 35495 Hipparcos stars in a common system", *Astronomy Letters*, **32** (11): 759–771, [arXiv](/source/ArXiv_(identifier)):[1606.08053](https://arxiv.org/abs/1606.08053), [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2006AstL...32..759G](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006AstL...32..759G), [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1134/S1063773706110065](https://doi.org/10.1134%2FS1063773706110065), [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [119231169](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:119231169).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Gallenne2019_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Gallenne2019_6-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Gallenne2019_6-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Gallenne2019_6-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Gallenne2019_6-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-Gallenne2019_6-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-Gallenne2019_6-6) Gallenne, A.; et al. (2019), "The Araucaria project: High-precision orbital parallax and masses of eclipsing binaries from infrared interferometry", *Astronomy & Astrophysics*, **632**: A31, [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2019A&A...632A..31G](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2019A&A...632A..31G), [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1051/0004-6361/201935837](https://doi.org/10.1051%2F0004-6361%2F201935837), [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0004-6361](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0004-6361).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Gerbaldi1999_7-0)** Gerbaldi, M.; et al. (June 1999), "Search for reference A0 dwarf stars: Masses and luminosities revisited with HIPPARCOS parallaxes", *Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement*, **137** (2): 273–292, [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[1999A&AS..137..273G](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1999A&AS..137..273G), [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1051/aas:1999248](https://doi.org/10.1051%2Faas%3A1999248).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Mantegazza2010_8-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Mantegazza2010_8-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Mantegazza2010_8-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Mantegazza2010_8-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Mantegazza2010_8-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-Mantegazza2010_8-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-Mantegazza2010_8-6) Mantegazza, L.; et al. (March 2010), "Spectroscopic search for g-mode pulsations in ψ Centauri", *Astronomy and Astrophysics*, **512**: 5, [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2010A&A...512A..42M](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010A&A...512A..42M), [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1051/0004-6361/200913013](https://doi.org/10.1051%2F0004-6361%2F200913013), A42.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-SIMBAD_9-0)** ["psi Cen"](http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-basic?Ident=psi+Cen), *[SIMBAD](/source/SIMBAD)*, [Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg](/source/Centre_de_donn%C3%A9es_astronomiques_de_Strasbourg), retrieved 2017-06-30

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Eggleton2008_10-0)** Eggleton, P. P.; Tokovinin, A. A. (September 2008), "A catalogue of multiplicity among bright stellar systems", *[Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society](/source/Monthly_Notices_of_the_Royal_Astronomical_Society)*, **389** (2): 869–879, [arXiv](/source/ArXiv_(identifier)):[0806.2878](https://arxiv.org/abs/0806.2878), [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2008MNRAS.389..869E](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008MNRAS.389..869E), [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.13596.x](https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1365-2966.2008.13596.x), [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [14878976](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:14878976).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Rhee2007_11-0)** Rhee, Joseph H.; et al. (May 2007), "Characterization of Dusty Debris Disks: The IRAS and Hipparcos Catalogs", *The Astrophysical Journal*, **660** (2): 1556–1571, [arXiv](/source/ArXiv_(identifier)):[astro-ph/0609555](https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0609555), [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2007ApJ...660.1556R](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007ApJ...660.1556R), [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1086/509912](https://doi.org/10.1086%2F509912), [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [11879505](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:11879505).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Liakos2017_12-0)** Liakos, Alexios; Niarchos, Panagiotis (February 2017), "Catalogue and properties of δ Scuti stars in binaries", *Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society*, **465** (1): 1181–1200, [arXiv](/source/ArXiv_(identifier)):[1611.00200](https://arxiv.org/abs/1611.00200), [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2017MNRAS.465.1181L](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2017MNRAS.465.1181L), [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1093/mnras/stw2756](https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fmnras%2Fstw2756).

v t e Constellation of Centaurus List of stars in Centaurus Centaurus in Chinese astronomy Stars Bayer α A (Rigil Kentaurus) B (Toliman) C (Proxima Centauri) β (Hadar) γ δ ε ζ (Leepwal) η θ (Menkent) ι (Kulou) κ λ μ ν (Heng) ξ1 ξ2 ο1 ο2 π ρ σ τ υ1 υ2 φ χ ψ x1 x2 C3 D E F G H J K M N Q Flamsteed 1 (i) 2 (g) 3 (k) 4 (h) Variable R T V Y RR SV SX BV DY UY V346 V553 V744 V752 V761 (a) V763 (C1) V766 V779 (Krzemiński's star) V803 V810 V816 (Przybylski's Star) V831 V842 V885 V886 V863 V1032 V1369 V1400 V1935 HR 4460 (A) 4466 (C2) 4499 4522 4523 4537 (j) 4546 (B) 4721 4748 (u) 4796 4817 (l) 4831 (w) 4874 (p) 4888 (e) 4889 (n) 4940 (f) 4979 4989 5006 (r) 5041 (m) 5089 (d) 5174 (z) 5222 (y) 5224 5241 5297 5358 (v) 5371 5471 (b) 5485 (c1) 5489 (c2) HD 97413 98176 100453 101581 101930 102117 (Uklun) 103197 107914 108236 109749 110113 113538 113766 114386 114729 115600 116434 (Matza) 117207 117618 (Dofida) 117939 120411 121228 121504 124448 (Popper's Star) 125072 125595 131399 Other 2MASS J1126−5003 2M1207 Gaia BH2 HD 131399 Ab PSR B1259−63 PSR J1311−3430 TOI-763 WASP-15 (Nyamien) WASP-41 WASP-42 WASP-167/KELT-13 Exoplanets 2M1207b b Centauri b HD 101930 b HD 102117 b (Leklsullun) HD 103197 b HD 109749 b HD 113538 b c HD 114386 b HD 114729 b HD 117207 b HD 117618 b (Noifasui) HD 121504 b HIP 65426 b (Najsakopajk) HIP 67522 b NGTS-13b Proxima Centauri b c d WASP-15b (Asye) Star clusters NGC 3766 4230 4507 5281 5286 5316 5460 5617 5662 Other IC 2944 ω Centauri Scorpius–Centaurus association Stock 16 Nebulae NGC 3918 5307 Other Boomerang Nebula Fleming 1 G292.0+1.8 G306.3-0.9 Gum 41 IC 2944 IRAS 13208−6020 RCW 79 RCW 86 Southern Crab Nebula SuWt 2 Galaxies NGC 3557 3568 3749 3783 4444 4603 4622 4650A 4683 4696 4706 4709 4729 4730 4743 4744 4909 4930 4945 4976 5011 A 5026 5064 5082 5090 5091 5102 5114 5121 5128 (Centaurus A) 5161 5206 5253 5266 5291 5398 5408 5419 5483 5516 Other ESO 269-57 ESO 325-4 ESO 383-76 ESO 444-46 Fourcade-Figueroa Object IC 3370 IC 4214 IC 4329A IRAS 13224−3809 J1144−4308 LEDA 677373 PKS 1144−379 PKS 1353−341 PKS 1424−418 Galaxy clusters Abell S740 Centaurus Cluster Shapley Supercluster Astronomical events GW190521 SN 185 SN 1895B (Z) SN 1972E SN 1986G J1407b SN 2019so Category

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Psi Centauri](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psi_Centauri) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psi_Centauri?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.