Rigil Kentaurus (sometimes spelt Rigil Kentavrus and better known as Alpha Centauri A) is a yellow main sequence star in the constellation Centaurus. It is the third brightest star in the night sky, as well as the brightest star within its constellation. It is a binary with Toliman, which the two stars form a trinary with Proxima Centauri. The Alpha Centauri system has been listed in many catalogs (for example, Harvard Revised Catalog number 5459 and Hipparcos catalog number 71683) and was even included in Ptolemy’s Almagest catalog. In 2017, NASA created a concept mission of sending a spacecraft to the Alpha Centauri system in 2069.
Astronomical data
Radius (in Solar Radii): 1.21 R☉
Diameter (in Kilometers): 1,694,760 km
Mass (in Solar Masses): 1.07 M☉
Distance (in Light Years): 4.34 ly
Spectral type: G2V (Yellow)