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 78→
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1 Centaurus 78 2 Centaurus 78 3 Centaurus 78 4 Centaurus 78 5 Centaurus 78 6 Centaurus 78 7 Centaurus 78 8 Centaurus 78 9 Centaurus 78 10 Centaurus 78 11 Centaurus 78 12 Centaurus 78 13 Centaurus 78 14 Centaurus 78 15 Centaurus 78 16 Centaurus 78 17 Centaurus 78 18 Centaurus 78 19 Centaurus 78 20 Centaurus 78 21 Centaurus 78 22 Centaurus 78 23 Centaurus 78 24 Centaurus 78 25 Centaurus 78 26 Centaurus 78 27 Centaurus 78 28 Centaurus 78 1 Draco 78 9 December 1757 10 December 1757 11 December 1757 12 December 1757 13 December 1757 14 December 1757 15 December 1757 16 December 1757 17 December 1757 18 December 1757 19 December 1757 20 December 1757 21 December 1757 22 December 1757 23 December 1757 24 December 1757 25 December 1757 26 December 1757 27 December 1757 28 December 1757 29 December 1757 30 December 1757 31 December 1757 1 January 1758 2 January 1758 3 January 1758 4 January 1758 5 January 1758 6 January 1758 7 January 1758
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