Mu Centauri is a third-magnitude star

Star

A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...

 in the constellation

Constellation

In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....

 Centaurus

Centaurus

Centaurus is a bright constellation in the southern sky. One of the largest constellations, Centaurus was included among the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations.-Stars:...

. With ν

Nu Centauri

Nu Centauri is a star in the constellation Centaurus.ν Centauri is a blue-white B-type subgiant with a mean apparent magnitude of +3.41. It is approximately 475 light years from Earth...

 and φ Cen

Phi Centauri

Phi Centauri is a star in the constellation Centaurus. φ Centauri is a blue-white B-type subgiant with an apparent magnitude of +3.83. It is approximately 465 light years from Earth....

, it marks what has been traditionally portrayed as "dextro Latere" (the right side) of the Centaur. http://astro.isi.edu/reference/almagest.html

μ Centauri is approximately 527 light years from the Earth

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...

 and is a blue-white B-type

Stellar classification

In astronomy, stellar classification is a classification of stars based on their spectral characteristics. The spectral class of a star is a designated class of a star describing the ionization of its chromosphere, what atomic excitations are most prominent in the light, giving an objective measure...

 subgiant with a mean apparent magnitude

Apparent magnitude

The apparent magnitude of a celestial body is a measure of its brightness as seen by an observer on Earth, adjusted to the value it would have in the absence of the atmosphere...

 of +3.47. It is classified as a Gamma Cassiopeiae type variable star

Variable star

A star is classified as variable if its apparent magnitude as seen from Earth changes over time, whether the changes are due to variations in the star's actual luminosity, or to variations in the amount of the star's light that is blocked from reaching Earth...

and its brightness varies from magnitude +2.92 to +3.47.