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 59→
SolPhoDeiTerVenJovSat
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
1 Centaurus 59 2 Centaurus 59 3 Centaurus 59 4 Centaurus 59 5 Centaurus 59 6 Centaurus 59 7 Centaurus 59 8 Centaurus 59 9 Centaurus 59 10 Centaurus 59 11 Centaurus 59 12 Centaurus 59 13 Centaurus 59 14 Centaurus 59 15 Centaurus 59 16 Centaurus 59 17 Centaurus 59 18 Centaurus 59 19 Centaurus 59 20 Centaurus 59 21 Centaurus 59 22 Centaurus 59 23 Centaurus 59 24 Centaurus 59 25 Centaurus 59 26 Centaurus 59 27 Centaurus 59 28 Centaurus 59 1 Draco 59 11 March 1722 12 March 1722 13 March 1722 14 March 1722 15 March 1722 16 March 1722 17 March 1722 18 March 1722 19 March 1722 20 March 1722 21 March 1722 22 March 1722 23 March 1722 24 March 1722 25 March 1722 26 March 1722 27 March 1722 28 March 1722 29 March 1722 30 March 1722 31 March 1722 1 April 1722 2 April 1722 3 April 1722 4 April 1722 5 April 1722 6 April 1722 7 April 1722 8 April 1722 9 April 1722
MS -107884 MS -107883 MS -107882 MS -107881 MS -107880 MS -107879 MS -107878 MS -107877 MS -107876 MS -107875 MS -107874 MS -107873 MS -107872 MS -107871 MS -107870 MS -107869 MS -107868 MS -107867 MS -107866 MS -107865 MS -107864 MS -107863 MS -107862 MS -107861 MS -107860 MS -107859 MS -107858 MS -107857 MS -107856 MD -110891 MD -110890 MD -110889 MD -110888 MD -110887 MD -110886 MD -110885 MD -110884 MD -110883 MD -110882 MD -110881 MD -110880 MD -110879 MD -110878 MD -110877 MD -110876 MD -110875 MD -110874 MD -110873 MD -110872 MD -110871 MD -110870 MD -110869 MD -110868 MD -110867 MD -110866 MD -110865 MD -110864 MD -110863 MD -110862