Centaurus constellation. Optical image of the southern constellation Centaurus, the centaur. North is at top. At lower left is Alpha Centauri (or Rige

---

Centaurus constellation. Optical image of the southern constellation Centaurus, the centaur. North is at top. At lower left is Alpha Centauri (or Rigel Kentaurus, the left one of the two bright stars). This is the nearest visible star to Earth, lying just light years away. To its right is Hadar (Beta Centauri). Further to the right is the constellation Crux, the Southern Cross. Just below and to the left of Crux is a dark area in the Milky Way known as The Coal Sack. This is a nearby dust cloud which obscures the bright Milky Way stars behind it. At bottom right corner is the pink Eta Carinae nebula, with the constellation Corvus, the crow, at upper right.

---

Size: 3150px × 3136px
Photo credit: © ECKHARD SLAWIK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: alpha, astronomy, carinae, centauri, centaurus, coalsack, constellations, corvus, cosmology, cross, crux, eta, kentaurus, milky, nearest, nebula, night, optical, rigel, science, sky, southern, space, starfield, stars