Menkent is an orange giant in Centaurus, a cool, evolved star whose name refers to the centaur’s shoulder, much nearer than Hadar beside it.
At a glance
| type | orange star (class K) |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 58.8 light-years (18 pc) |
| its light left it | 58.8 years ago |
| luminosity | 53.7 × the Sun |
| radius | 9.2 × the Sun |
| surface temperature | 5,150 K |
| constellation | Centaurus (Centaur) |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Menkent
Menkent is an orange star of class K, a giant much wider than the Sun that has finished burning hydrogen in its core. Its surface is cooler than the Sun’s, giving it a warm tint, and it is far more luminous.
Its name is a contraction of an Arabic phrase meaning the shoulder of the centaur. Menkent lies in the upper part of the figure, north of Hadar and Alpha Centauri, and is one of the stars used for celestial navigation.
What you see in the piece
Its colour is its temperature: Menkent shows a soft orange in the piece, quite unlike the blue-white of Hadar, which lies much further away.
Questions
What kind of star is Menkent?
Menkent is an orange star (class K) with a surface temperature of 5,150 K and 9.2 × the Sun’s radius.