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 37→
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1 Centaurus 37 2 Centaurus 37 3 Centaurus 37 4 Centaurus 37 5 Centaurus 37 6 Centaurus 37 7 Centaurus 37 8 Centaurus 37 9 Centaurus 37 10 Centaurus 37 11 Centaurus 37 12 Centaurus 37 13 Centaurus 37 14 Centaurus 37 15 Centaurus 37 16 Centaurus 37 17 Centaurus 37 18 Centaurus 37 19 Centaurus 37 20 Centaurus 37 21 Centaurus 37 22 Centaurus 37 23 Centaurus 37 24 Centaurus 37 25 Centaurus 37 26 Centaurus 37 27 Centaurus 37 28 Centaurus 37 1 Draco 37 19 October 1680 20 October 1680 21 October 1680 22 October 1680 23 October 1680 24 October 1680 25 October 1680 26 October 1680 27 October 1680 28 October 1680 29 October 1680 30 October 1680 31 October 1680 1 November 1680 2 November 1680 3 November 1680 4 November 1680 5 November 1680 6 November 1680 7 November 1680 8 November 1680 9 November 1680 10 November 1680 11 November 1680 12 November 1680 13 November 1680 14 November 1680 15 November 1680 16 November 1680
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