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 72→
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1 Centaurus 72 2 Centaurus 72 3 Centaurus 72 4 Centaurus 72 5 Centaurus 72 6 Centaurus 72 7 Centaurus 72 8 Centaurus 72 9 Centaurus 72 10 Centaurus 72 11 Centaurus 72 12 Centaurus 72 13 Centaurus 72 14 Centaurus 72 15 Centaurus 72 16 Centaurus 72 17 Centaurus 72 18 Centaurus 72 19 Centaurus 72 20 Centaurus 72 21 Centaurus 72 22 Centaurus 72 23 Centaurus 72 24 Centaurus 72 25 Centaurus 72 26 Centaurus 72 27 Centaurus 72 28 Centaurus 72 1 Draco 72 27 August 1746 28 August 1746 29 August 1746 30 August 1746 31 August 1746 1 September 1746 2 September 1746 3 September 1746 4 September 1746 5 September 1746 6 September 1746 7 September 1746 8 September 1746 9 September 1746 10 September 1746 11 September 1746 12 September 1746 13 September 1746 14 September 1746 15 September 1746 16 September 1746 17 September 1746 18 September 1746 19 September 1746 20 September 1746 21 September 1746 22 September 1746 23 September 1746 24 September 1746
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