a binary star, the brightest star in the constellation Centaurus: magnitude, -0.27: it is the nearest of the stars that are visible to the naked eye, except for the sun
a massive, relatively hot, blue to white star, as Rigel or Spica, having a surface temperature between 10,000 and 30,000 K and with an absorption spectrum dominated by the Balmer series of hydrogen with lines of neutral helium present.
