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 82→
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1 Centaurus 82 2 Centaurus 82 3 Centaurus 82 4 Centaurus 82 5 Centaurus 82 6 Centaurus 82 7 Centaurus 82 8 Centaurus 82 9 Centaurus 82 10 Centaurus 82 11 Centaurus 82 12 Centaurus 82 13 Centaurus 82 14 Centaurus 82 15 Centaurus 82 16 Centaurus 82 17 Centaurus 82 18 Centaurus 82 19 Centaurus 82 20 Centaurus 82 21 Centaurus 82 22 Centaurus 82 23 Centaurus 82 24 Centaurus 82 25 Centaurus 82 26 Centaurus 82 27 Centaurus 82 28 Centaurus 82 1 Draco 82 19 June 1765 20 June 1765 21 June 1765 22 June 1765 23 June 1765 24 June 1765 25 June 1765 26 June 1765 27 June 1765 28 June 1765 29 June 1765 30 June 1765 1 July 1765 2 July 1765 3 July 1765 4 July 1765 5 July 1765 6 July 1765 7 July 1765 8 July 1765 9 July 1765 10 July 1765 11 July 1765 12 July 1765 13 July 1765 14 July 1765 15 July 1765 16 July 1765 17 July 1765 18 July 1765
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