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| Centaurus Constellation |
| Horse Man on the Horizon |
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| Fact Links |
| Picture Links |
| English Name: Centaur, Compass (Dividers) Latin Name: Centaurus (Cen), Circinus (Cir) Spanish Name: Centauro, Compases German Name: Zentaur, Zirkel French Name: Centaure, Compas |
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| Centaurus contains the closest star to the Sun which is Alpha Centauri. At a Distance of 4.4 Light-Years |
| These are little animations of the constellation. |
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| Some Interesting Facts: Centaurus is the ninth largest constellation. It contains two of the ten largest stars. Has the best globular cluster. Also, has its own meteor shower. |
| It is in the Northern Hemisphere in the Spring. It is in the Southern Hemisphere in the Autumn. |
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| Click Here to go to the Photo Gallery |
| Centaurus is also part of the Hercules Family. |
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| This a digital picture taken of Centaurus. |
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| This is a picture of the Omega Cluster in the Centaurus Constellation. Also known as NGC 5139. Also can be seen with the naked eye. |
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| This is a picture of the Omega Cluster in a more detailed picture. Click on picture for a more detailed picture taken by the HST. |
| The Mythology Story: One of the greek mythology stories of Centaurus that generally the constellation refers to Chiron, king of the Centaurus. Chiron was the son of Chronos and Philyra, the sea nymph, she was turned into a Linden Tree shortly after Chirons birth. In early drawings of the Centaurus Constellations, there were two centauruses showing. The other was to be Pholos. Chiron was the inventor of the constellations, he had experties in music, botany, astronomy, devination and medicine and the teacher of Archillies. Pholos was the teacher of Hercules. One day, Hercules accidently killed his friend Pholos with one of his poisioned tipped arrows, and during that time, he accidently wounded Chiron, since Chiron was immortal, he could not die from his wounds, and was in such pain that Prometheus offered to exchange his immortality so that Chiron could find peace. So then Chiron transfered to the constellations by Zeus. And then Prometheus inherieted Chirons astronomical abilities and hid immortality. |
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| Here is a list of some of the stars that make up the Centaurus Constellation: *3 Centauri *Menkent *Ke Kwan *Al Nair *Al Kentaurus *Rigil Kentaurus *Hadar *Proxima Centauri *Gamma Centauri |
| To my opinion, the importance of constellations is to help people better understand and find stars easier. So when you try to find a star you look for the constellation first and then you are better able to find the star your looking for because it is within the constellation. |