Constellations · Constellation · Centauri · Cen
Constellation
Centaurus
The wise centaur Chiron, teacher of heroes. Its brightest star is the Sun’s nearest neighbour — a triple system 4.4 light-years away.
- Genitive
- Centauri
- Area
- 1,060 square degrees · 9th of 88
- Brightest star
- Rigil Kentaurus · magnitude -0.27
- Naked-eye stars
- 283 brighter than magnitude 6.5
- Highest at midnight
- early April
Myth
Chiron tutored Achilles, Jason and Asclepius. Accidentally wounded by a poisoned arrow of Hercules, the immortal gave up his life rather than suffer forever.
Look for
Rigil Kentaurus and Hadar are the Pointers: follow them to the Southern Cross. The fainter third star of the system, Proxima, is the closest star of all, and has at least one planet.
Look for
Omega Centauri looks like a fuzzy star — Ptolemy catalogued it as one. It is the Milky Way’s largest globular cluster, some ten million stars.