RA 189.4259° · Dec -48.5413° · star
4 more points to reach Common.
Tau Cen is a trash star. It lies about 131.2 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Cen, shines at apparent magnitude 3.85 and has spectral type A2V.
Tau Cen is a trash star worth 11 points across 2 science badges. Explore its facts, badges and place on the sky map, then add it to your dex on Spacedle.
Look for Tau Cen in the constellation Cen. At apparent magnitude 3.85, it can be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies.
Like any astronomical target, Tau Cen is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.
Tau Cen scores 11 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the trash tier. Another 4 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 2 science badges — Star and Naked-eye visible — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.