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 171→
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1 Centaurus 171 2 Centaurus 171 3 Centaurus 171 4 Centaurus 171 5 Centaurus 171 6 Centaurus 171 7 Centaurus 171 8 Centaurus 171 9 Centaurus 171 10 Centaurus 171 11 Centaurus 171 12 Centaurus 171 13 Centaurus 171 14 Centaurus 171 15 Centaurus 171 16 Centaurus 171 17 Centaurus 171 18 Centaurus 171 19 Centaurus 171 20 Centaurus 171 21 Centaurus 171 22 Centaurus 171 23 Centaurus 171 24 Centaurus 171 25 Centaurus 171 26 Centaurus 171 27 Centaurus 171 28 Centaurus 171 1 Draco 171 28 November 1932 29 November 1932 30 November 1932 1 December 1932 2 December 1932 3 December 1932 4 December 1932 5 December 1932 6 December 1932 7 December 1932 8 December 1932 9 December 1932 10 December 1932 11 December 1932 12 December 1932 13 December 1932 14 December 1932 15 December 1932 16 December 1932 17 December 1932 18 December 1932 19 December 1932 20 December 1932 21 December 1932 22 December 1932 23 December 1932 24 December 1932 25 December 1932 26 December 1932 27 December 1932
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