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 196→
SolPhoDeiTerVenJovSat
1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728
1 Centaurus 196 2 Centaurus 196 3 Centaurus 196 4 Centaurus 196 5 Centaurus 196 6 Centaurus 196 7 Centaurus 196 8 Centaurus 196 9 Centaurus 196 10 Centaurus 196 11 Centaurus 196 12 Centaurus 196 13 Centaurus 196 14 Centaurus 196 15 Centaurus 196 16 Centaurus 196 17 Centaurus 196 18 Centaurus 196 19 Centaurus 196 20 Centaurus 196 21 Centaurus 196 22 Centaurus 196 23 Centaurus 196 24 Centaurus 196 25 Centaurus 196 26 Centaurus 196 27 Centaurus 196 28 Centaurus 196 1 Draco 196 12 December 1979 13 December 1979 14 December 1979 15 December 1979 16 December 1979 17 December 1979 18 December 1979 19 December 1979 20 December 1979 21 December 1979 22 December 1979 23 December 1979 24 December 1979 25 December 1979 26 December 1979 27 December 1979 28 December 1979 29 December 1979 30 December 1979 31 December 1979 1 January 1980 2 January 1980 3 January 1980 4 January 1980 5 January 1980 6 January 1980 7 January 1980 8 January 1980 9 January 1980
MS -16286 MS -16285 MS -16284 MS -16283 MS -16282 MS -16281 MS -16280 MS -16279 MS -16278 MS -16277 MS -16276 MS -16275 MS -16274 MS -16273 MS -16272 MS -16271 MS -16270 MS -16269 MS -16268 MS -16267 MS -16266 MS -16265 MS -16264 MS -16263 MS -16262 MS -16261 MS -16260 MS -16259 MS -16258 MD -16748 MD -16747 MD -16746 MD -16745 MD -16744 MD -16743 MD -16742 MD -16741 MD -16740 MD -16739 MD -16738 MD -16737 MD -16736 MD -16735 MD -16734 MD -16733 MD -16732 MD -16731 MD -16730 MD -16729 MD -16728 MD -16727 MD -16726 MD -16725 MD -16724 MD -16723 MD -16722 MD -16721 MD -16720