IAU and Sky & Telescope magazine (Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg)
Centaurus
The Centaur
OriginAncient
AbbreviationCen
GenitiveCentauri
Pronunciation/sɛnˈtɔːrəs, -ˈtɑːr-/ sen-TOR-əss, -⁠TAR- genitive /sɛnˈtɔːraɪ, -ˈtɔːri, -ˈtɑːri/ sen-TOR-eye, -⁠TOR-ee, -⁠TAR-ee
sen-TOR-us
LocationSouthern Hemisphere
Primary StarRigil Kentaurus (α Cen)
Right Ascention 14h 40m Declination -60° 50'
Martian Solar Lag δ(🜨→♂) +0.422 h (25.3 min)
Centaurus, “The Centaur”, is one of two centaurs in the night sky, the other being Sagittarius. Centaurs are half-man, half-horse beasts known for being ill behaved. In some Greek myths, Centaurus is Chiron, an extremely wise and intelligent being. He was a renowned tutor, and he instructed the likes of Hercules, Achilles, Jason, Theseus and Asclepius (see Ophiuchus) from his cave on Mount Pelion. He taught archery, hunting, medicine, music and prophecy. He was accidently shot in the knee with one of Hercules’ Hydra poisoned arrows during an attack while the two were paying a visit to the centaur Pholous. The pain from the poison was excruciating and unending, and being immortal he could not die. Zeus agreed to transfer Chiron’s immortality to Prometheus so he could die and be released from the agony. When he passed, Zeus placed him amongst the stars.
www.underthesky.com
Centaurus as depicted by Johannes Hevelius in his Firmamentum Sobiescianum sive Uranographia (1687). Source image provided by www.RareMaps.com — Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps Inc. Via www.underthenightsky.com.
←Centaurus -72→
SolPhoDeiTerVenJovSat
12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728
1 Centaurus -72 2 Centaurus -72 3 Centaurus -72 4 Centaurus -72 5 Centaurus -72 6 Centaurus -72 7 Centaurus -72 8 Centaurus -72 9 Centaurus -72 10 Centaurus -72 11 Centaurus -72 12 Centaurus -72 13 Centaurus -72 14 Centaurus -72 15 Centaurus -72 16 Centaurus -72 17 Centaurus -72 18 Centaurus -72 19 Centaurus -72 20 Centaurus -72 21 Centaurus -72 22 Centaurus -72 23 Centaurus -72 24 Centaurus -72 25 Centaurus -72 26 Centaurus -72 27 Centaurus -72 28 Centaurus -72 1 Hydra -71 23 October 1475 24 October 1475 25 October 1475 26 October 1475 27 October 1475 28 October 1475 29 October 1475 30 October 1475 31 October 1475 1 November 1475 2 November 1475 3 November 1475 4 November 1475 5 November 1475 6 November 1475 7 November 1475 8 November 1475 9 November 1475 10 November 1475 11 November 1475 12 November 1475 13 November 1475 14 November 1475 15 November 1475 16 November 1475 17 November 1475 18 November 1475 19 November 1475 20 November 1475 21 November 1475
MS -195441 MS -195442 MS -195443 MS -195444 MS -195445 MS -195446 MS -195447 MS -195448 MS -195449 MS -195450 MS -195451 MS -195452 MS -195453 MS -195454 MS -195455 MS -195456 MS -195457 MS -195458 MS -195459 MS -195460 MS -195461 MS -195462 MS -195463 MS -195464 MS -195465 MS -195466 MS -195467 MS -195468 MS -195413 MD -200880 MD -200879 MD -200878 MD -200877 MD -200876 MD -200875 MD -200874 MD -200873 MD -200872 MD -200871 MD -200870 MD -200869 MD -200868 MD -200867 MD -200866 MD -200865 MD -200864 MD -200863 MD -200862 MD -200861 MD -200860 MD -200859 MD -200858 MD -200857 MD -200856 MD -200855 MD -200854 MD -200853 MD -200852 MD -200851