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 195→
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1 Centaurus 195 2 Centaurus 195 3 Centaurus 195 4 Centaurus 195 5 Centaurus 195 6 Centaurus 195 7 Centaurus 195 8 Centaurus 195 9 Centaurus 195 10 Centaurus 195 11 Centaurus 195 12 Centaurus 195 13 Centaurus 195 14 Centaurus 195 15 Centaurus 195 16 Centaurus 195 17 Centaurus 195 18 Centaurus 195 19 Centaurus 195 20 Centaurus 195 21 Centaurus 195 22 Centaurus 195 23 Centaurus 195 24 Centaurus 195 25 Centaurus 195 26 Centaurus 195 27 Centaurus 195 28 Centaurus 195 1 Draco 195 23 January 1978 24 January 1978 25 January 1978 26 January 1978 27 January 1978 28 January 1978 29 January 1978 30 January 1978 31 January 1978 1 February 1978 2 February 1978 3 February 1978 4 February 1978 5 February 1978 6 February 1978 7 February 1978 8 February 1978 9 February 1978 10 February 1978 11 February 1978 12 February 1978 13 February 1978 14 February 1978 15 February 1978 16 February 1978 17 February 1978 18 February 1978 19 February 1978 20 February 1978 21 February 1978
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