Lambda Centauri
Lambda Centauri, Latinized from λ Centauri, is a star in the southern circumpolar constellation of Centaurus. It has an apparent visual magnitude of +3.13, which is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye from the Southern Hemisphere and places it among the brighter members of this constellation. The star is close enough that its distance can be determined directly using the parallax technique, which gives a value of approximately from the Sun. Although a putative solitary star, it has a candidate proper motion companion at an angular separation of 0.73 arcseconds along a position angle of 135°. The nebula IC 2944 lies nearby.

Lambda Centauri is a B-type giant star with a stellar classification of B9 III (although it has also been classified as A1 III). It has about 5.5 times the radius of the Sun and is rotating rapidly with a projected rotational velocity of . The latter is giving the star an oblate shape with an equatorial bulge that is 17% larger than the polar radius. The star's outer atmosphere has an effective temperature of 9,880 K, giving it a blue-white hue.

Based upon the position and movement of this star through space, it is a likely member of the Gould Belt. In particular, it belongs to the Lower Centaurus-Crux (LCC) group of the Scorpius–Centaurus Association, which is the nearest OB association to the Sun. This is a loose grouping of stars that share a common motion through space and therefore formed in the same molecular cloud. The LCC group has an estimated age of 16–20 million years and is centered on a mean distance of from Earth.
Q466126
Latinized
ORG
Q523
star
Concept
Q1067416
circumpolar constellation
Concept
Q8844
Centaurus
CEL
Q124313
apparent visual magnitude
Concept
Q506254
naked eye
Concept
Q41228
Southern Hemisphere
TIME
Q906561
parallax
Concept
Q525
Sun
CEL
Q1357788
angular separation
Concept
Q12097402
arcsecond
Concept
Q2105737
position angle
UNK
Q42372
nebula
Concept
Q1059877
IC 2944
DIS
Q25377588
B-type
Concept
Q5875
giant star
Concept
Q25377588
stellar classification
Concept
Q525
Sun
CEL
Q6464
projected rotational velocity
Concept
Q208395
oblate
Concept
Q1440352
equatorial bulge
UNK
Q6311
outer atmosphere
Concept
Q854050
effective temperature
Concept
Q24469
Gould Belt
DIS
Q45059
Scorpius–Centaurus Association
CEL
Q6440
OB association
Concept
Q272447
molecular cloud
Concept
Q2357666
Lambda Centauri
CEL
Q2357666
Lambda Centauri
CEL
2944-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2944
DATE
++3.13^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
+3.13
NUMBER
+0.73^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
0.73
NUMBER
+9^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
9
NUMBER
+1^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
1
NUMBER
+5.5^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
5.5
NUMBER
+17^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
17
NUMBER
+16^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
16
NUMBER
+20^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
20
NUMBER
instance of
constellation
radius