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 164→
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1 Centaurus 164 2 Centaurus 164 3 Centaurus 164 4 Centaurus 164 5 Centaurus 164 6 Centaurus 164 7 Centaurus 164 8 Centaurus 164 9 Centaurus 164 10 Centaurus 164 11 Centaurus 164 12 Centaurus 164 13 Centaurus 164 14 Centaurus 164 15 Centaurus 164 16 Centaurus 164 17 Centaurus 164 18 Centaurus 164 19 Centaurus 164 20 Centaurus 164 21 Centaurus 164 22 Centaurus 164 23 Centaurus 164 24 Centaurus 164 25 Centaurus 164 26 Centaurus 164 27 Centaurus 164 28 Centaurus 164 1 Draco 164 28 September 1919 29 September 1919 30 September 1919 1 October 1919 2 October 1919 3 October 1919 4 October 1919 5 October 1919 6 October 1919 7 October 1919 8 October 1919 9 October 1919 10 October 1919 11 October 1919 12 October 1919 13 October 1919 14 October 1919 15 October 1919 16 October 1919 17 October 1919 18 October 1919 19 October 1919 20 October 1919 21 October 1919 22 October 1919 23 October 1919 24 October 1919 25 October 1919 26 October 1919 27 October 1919
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