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 119→
SolPhoDeiTerVenJovSat
12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
2425262728
1 Centaurus 119 2 Centaurus 119 3 Centaurus 119 4 Centaurus 119 5 Centaurus 119 6 Centaurus 119 7 Centaurus 119 8 Centaurus 119 9 Centaurus 119 10 Centaurus 119 11 Centaurus 119 12 Centaurus 119 13 Centaurus 119 14 Centaurus 119 15 Centaurus 119 16 Centaurus 119 17 Centaurus 119 18 Centaurus 119 19 Centaurus 119 20 Centaurus 119 21 Centaurus 119 22 Centaurus 119 23 Centaurus 119 24 Centaurus 119 25 Centaurus 119 26 Centaurus 119 27 Centaurus 119 28 Centaurus 119 1 Draco 119 28 January 1835 29 January 1835 30 January 1835 31 January 1835 1 February 1835 2 February 1835 3 February 1835 4 February 1835 5 February 1835 6 February 1835 7 February 1835 8 February 1835 9 February 1835 10 February 1835 11 February 1835 12 February 1835 13 February 1835 14 February 1835 15 February 1835 16 February 1835 17 February 1835 18 February 1835 19 February 1835 20 February 1835 21 February 1835 22 February 1835 23 February 1835 24 February 1835 25 February 1835
MS -67769 MS -67768 MS -67767 MS -67766 MS -67765 MS -67764 MS -67763 MS -67762 MS -67761 MS -67760 MS -67759 MS -67758 MS -67757 MS -67756 MS -67755 MS -67754 MS -67753 MS -67752 MS -67751 MS -67750 MS -67749 MS -67748 MS -67747 MS -67746 MS -67745 MS -67744 MS -67743 MS -67742 MS -67741 MD -69661 MD -69660 MD -69659 MD -69658 MD -69657 MD -69656 MD -69655 MD -69654 MD -69653 MD -69652 MD -69651 MD -69650 MD -69649 MD -69648 MD -69647 MD -69646 MD -69645 MD -69644 MD -69643 MD -69642 MD -69641 MD -69640 MD -69639 MD -69638 MD -69637 MD -69636 MD -69635 MD -69634 MD -69633