Alpha Centauri is the fourth brightest star in our night sky
(outshone only by Sirius, Canopus and Arcturus), easily visible in
the southern hemisphere in the constellation of Centaurus (not at
all visible from Maryland).
Alpha Centauri is actually a triple star systme, comprised of
Alpha Centauri A, Alpha Centauri B, and the red dwarf star Proxima
Centauri (the latter is 4.2 light-years away from our Solar
system). Both of the larger components of this star system are very
similar to our Sun. Alpha Cen A is almost identical to our Sun in
spectral type, though just a wee bit greater in size and
brightness, whereas Alpha Cen B is a wee bit more orange and cooler
than our Sun. The two stars orbit each other in 80 years, getting
as close as 11.2 AU and as far apart as 35.6 AU (where 1 AU is the
average distance between the Earth and the Sun). To put that in
scale with our solar system, Saturn orbits the Sun at an average
distance of 9.5 AU, Uranus at an average distance of 19.5 AU, and
Neptune at an average distance of 30.1 AU.
The name Rigel Kentaurus (which is often shortened to Rigel
Kent) is derived from the Arabic phrase Al Rijl al Kentaurus,
meaning "foot of the centaur". The star is more commonly known as
Alpha Centauri, however.
The cache is fairly small (almost mini!) camo'd container, and
not the most robust thing on the planet. Please take care when
opening it. Also, being small, it is barely able to contain two
geocoins and the logsheet (which is all the cache begins its life
with). Keep that in mind when you are visiting. Thanks!