Beta Centauri
To the naked eye, Alpha Centauri AB appears to be a single star, the brightest in the southern constellation of Centaurus. Their apparent angular separation varies over about 80 years between 2 and 22 arcsec (the naked eye has a resolution of 60 arcsec), but through much of the orbit, both are easily resolved in binoculars or small telescopes. At −0.27 apparent magnitude (combined for A and B magnitudes), Alpha Centauri is fainter only than Sirius and Canopus. It is the outer star of "The Pointers" or "The Southern Pointers", so called because the line through Beta Centauri (Hadar/Agena),