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Loading contentThe stars of a constellation shown by their real directions on the celestial sphere — the pattern as it appears from Earth. Turn on the true-distance figures in the table and a striking fact appears: the stars of a constellation lie at wildly different distances and are not physically connected at all. The familiar shape is a line-of-sight illusion.
Direction only — the celestial sphere
Measured right ascension and declination placed on the unit celestial sphere (direction only — no distance is asserted by the position). Each star's measured distance is shown in the accompanying table.
No star-to-star line topology (the stick-figure joins) exists in the catalogue, so no connecting lines are drawn — nothing about the figure is invented. The scene features the constellation with the most catalogued stars.
The same measured data as the visual scene, as a table — readable without JavaScript and by a screen reader.
| Object | Distance (light-years) |
|---|---|
| Rigil Kentaurus | 4.32 ly |
| Toliman | 4.32 ly |
| Menkent | 58.82 ly |
| Gamma Centauri | 130.15 ly |
| Epsilon Centauri | 427.5 ly |
| Eta Centauri | 305.68 ly |
| Zeta Centauri | 381.9 ly |
| Delta Centauri | 415 ly |
| Iota Centauri | 58.78 ly |
| Lambda Centauri | 419.8 ly |
| Kappa Centauri | 383.3 ly |
| Nu Centauri | 436.6 ly |
| Mu Centauri | 505.7 ly |
| Phi Centauri | 525.2 ly |
| Tau Centauri | 131.25 ly |
| HR 5249 | 427.5 ly |
| HR 5089 | 906 ly |
| Pi Centauri | 357.6 ly |
| Sigma Centauri | 411.8 ly |
| Rho Centauri | 378.8 ly |
| HR 5471 | 339 ly |
| Psi Centauri | 258.85 ly |
| HR 5485 | 209.48 ly |
| HR 4522 | 389.7 ly |
| 2 Centauri | 183.03 ly |
| 1 Centauri | 63.28 ly |
| HR 4889 | 148.59 ly |
| HR 4942 | 467.3 ly |
| HR 4537 | 595.2 ly |
| HR 5358 | 1,226.2 ly |
| 3 Centauri | 343.7 ly |
| HR 4888 | 294.36 ly |
| HR 5260 | 1,269.1 ly |
| Chi Centauri | 510.4 ly |
| HR 5378 | 457.4 ly |
| HR 4618 | 438.4 ly |
| HR 4546 | 433.1 ly |
| HR 5035 | 354.5 ly |
| HR 5041 | 260.3 ly |
| HR 4975 | 378.8 ly |
| HR 4460 | 426.3 ly |
| HR 4817 | 364.8 ly |
| HR 5172 | 262.61 ly |
| HR 4831 | 190.62 ly |
| HR 4940 | 390.1 ly |
| HR 5241 | 209.61 ly |
| HR 5297 | 182.41 ly |
| 4 Centauri | 637 ly |
| HR 5371 | 383.3 ly |
| HR 4732 | 448 ly |
| HR 4933 | 220.53 ly |
| HR 4979 | 67.42 ly |
| HR 4523 | 30.07 ly |
| HR 4874 | 400.2 ly |
| HR 4989 | 59.36 ly |
| HR 5489 | 214.29 ly |
| HR 4499 | 888.7 ly |
| HR 5141 | 271.34 ly |
| HR 4396 | 1,055.5 ly |
| HR 4511 | — |
| HR 4682 | 494.2 ly |
| HR 5543 | 491.9 ly |
| HR 5316 | 481.8 ly |
| HR 5071 | 507.2 ly |
| HR 4441 | — |
| HR 5006 | 257.63 ly |
| HR 5058 | 203.34 ly |
| HR 4442 | — |
| HR 4794 | 115.86 ly |
| HR 4423 | 699.9 ly |
| HR 4475 | 233.8 ly |
| HR 4327 | 274.31 ly |
| HR 4487 | 285.1 ly |
| HR 4600 | 82.59 ly |
| HR 5174 | 436.6 ly |
| HR 4913 | 368.5 ly |
| HR 4413 | 88.77 ly |
| HR 4409 | 274.08 ly |
| HR 4415 | 1,364.7 ly |
| HR 5349 | 157.72 ly |
| HR 4973 | 222.33 ly |
| HR 4466 | 201.58 ly |
| HR 5207 | 259.89 ly |
| HR 4519 | 691 ly |
| HR 4652 | 571.2 ly |
| HR 4712 | 444.4 ly |
| HR 5048 | 127.85 ly |
| HR 5558 | 253.82 ly |
| HR 4620 | 599.6 ly |
| HR 4350 | 164.39 ly |
| HR 5140 | 782.1 ly |
| HR 4453 | 385.5 ly |
| HR 4526 | 702.9 ly |
| HR 4748 | 436.6 ly |
| HR 4476 | 353.4 ly |
| HR 4906 | 661.6 ly |
| HR 5176 | 497.9 ly |
| HR 5026 | 408.7 ly |
| HR 4462 | 191.86 ly |
| Matza | 319.45 ly |
| Dofida | 123.83 ly |
| Uklun | 129.48 ly |
Facts on this topic will be cited from these primary and reference sources.
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.