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 208→
SolPhoDeiTerVenJovSat
1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728
1 Centaurus 208 2 Centaurus 208 3 Centaurus 208 4 Centaurus 208 5 Centaurus 208 6 Centaurus 208 7 Centaurus 208 8 Centaurus 208 9 Centaurus 208 10 Centaurus 208 11 Centaurus 208 12 Centaurus 208 13 Centaurus 208 14 Centaurus 208 15 Centaurus 208 16 Centaurus 208 17 Centaurus 208 18 Centaurus 208 19 Centaurus 208 20 Centaurus 208 21 Centaurus 208 22 Centaurus 208 23 Centaurus 208 24 Centaurus 208 25 Centaurus 208 26 Centaurus 208 27 Centaurus 208 28 Centaurus 208 1 Draco 208 9 July 2002 10 July 2002 11 July 2002 12 July 2002 13 July 2002 14 July 2002 15 July 2002 16 July 2002 17 July 2002 18 July 2002 19 July 2002 20 July 2002 21 July 2002 22 July 2002 23 July 2002 24 July 2002 25 July 2002 26 July 2002 27 July 2002 28 July 2002 29 July 2002 30 July 2002 31 July 2002 1 August 2002 2 August 2002 3 August 2002 4 August 2002 5 August 2002 6 August 2002
MS -8264 MS -8263 MS -8262 MS -8261 MS -8260 MS -8259 MS -8258 MS -8257 MS -8256 MS -8255 MS -8254 MS -8253 MS -8252 MS -8251 MS -8250 MS -8249 MS -8248 MS -8247 MS -8246 MS -8245 MS -8244 MS -8243 MS -8242 MS -8241 MS -8240 MS -8239 MS -8238 MS -8237 MS -8236 MD -8503 MD -8502 MD -8501 MD -8500 MD -8499 MD -8498 MD -8497 MD -8496 MD -8495 MD -8494 MD -8493 MD -8492 MD -8491 MD -8490 MD -8489 MD -8488 MD -8487 MD -8486 MD -8485 MD -8484 MD -8483 MD -8482 MD -8481 MD -8480 MD -8479 MD -8478 MD -8477 MD -8476 MD -8475