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 109→
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1 Centaurus 109 2 Centaurus 109 3 Centaurus 109 4 Centaurus 109 5 Centaurus 109 6 Centaurus 109 7 Centaurus 109 8 Centaurus 109 9 Centaurus 109 10 Centaurus 109 11 Centaurus 109 12 Centaurus 109 13 Centaurus 109 14 Centaurus 109 15 Centaurus 109 16 Centaurus 109 17 Centaurus 109 18 Centaurus 109 19 Centaurus 109 20 Centaurus 109 21 Centaurus 109 22 Centaurus 109 23 Centaurus 109 24 Centaurus 109 25 Centaurus 109 26 Centaurus 109 27 Centaurus 109 28 Centaurus 109 1 Draco 109 5 April 1816 6 April 1816 7 April 1816 8 April 1816 9 April 1816 10 April 1816 11 April 1816 12 April 1816 13 April 1816 14 April 1816 15 April 1816 16 April 1816 17 April 1816 18 April 1816 19 April 1816 20 April 1816 21 April 1816 22 April 1816 23 April 1816 24 April 1816 25 April 1816 26 April 1816 27 April 1816 28 April 1816 29 April 1816 30 April 1816 1 May 1816 2 May 1816 3 May 1816 4 May 1816
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