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Beta Centauri weighs in Although little known to most stargazers in the Northern Hemisphere, Beta Centauri is the 11th brightest star in the night. It's just 4.5° west of Alpha Centauri, the Sun's nearest neighbor.
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In 1501 the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512) charted what seems to have been Alpha and Beta Centauri and the stars of Crux, but the most accurate early depiction was made by the Italian navigator Andrea Corsali in 1515.
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In the southern hemisphere, Alpha Centauri is one of the stars of The Pointers or The Southern Pointers [18] with Beta Centauri or Hadar / Agena. [19] Both stars directly point towards the constellation Crux-the Southern Cross.
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See also: Sky, Star, Taurus, Hadar, Light
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