Constellation Centaur - the pearl of the southern sky

The night sky now, like thousands of years ago, magically affects a person, enchants and shakes the imagination with a multitude of constellations. Big Dipper, Bootes, Cassiopeia ... Everyone knows these names, this northern hemisphere. And the southern one: Big Dog, the Southern Cross, along which more than one hundred years the navigators are laying the course of the ship. And each constellation has its own history, its legend, as well as the known constellation Centaurus in the southern hemisphere.

Legend of the constellation

The centaur (or centaur) bore the name Chiron and was born to oceanic Filir of Kronos. He was half human, half horse, since his father Kronos, being caught by his wife Rhea, turned into a horse. Chiron was very different from all the other centaurs. He was kinder, wiser. He brought up such heroes of the ancient world as Theseus, Achilles, Jason. Chiron also taught the art of healing the famous Asclepius. This centaur heroically gives his life for imprisoned Prometheus, granting him immortality. For this act the gods lifted Chiron to the night sky, forever immortalized it, turning into a constellation Centaurus.

General information about the constellation

As you know, the constellation is in the southern hemisphere, from the territory of Russia, unfortunately, it can not be seen. More precisely, theoretically part of it can be seen, but it is so close to the horizon that in fact there is practically no visible Centaur. The constellation is best observed at latitudes from 26 ° north and 90 ° south. It is clearly visible in the first half of spring, namely in March and April. In size, this constellation occupies about 1060 square degrees and is in the ninth place.

This cluster of stars in the night sky includes 389 objects. All of them can be considered without using any optics. Next to the Centaurus are other constellations such as the Wolf, Ship, Hydra, Southern Cross. By the way, even before the XVII century the Southern Cross was not an independent element of the starry sky, but was a member of the constellation Centaurus.

The most famous objects of the Centaurus

Alpha Centauri, or Rigel Centaurus, is one of the brightest stars that enter the constellation. It is 0.7 magnitude and is a whole system consisting of a double star - Alpha and Beta, as well as a red dwarf called Proxima Centauri. In what constellation is there still such a bright star system, moreover, located so close to our planet? From Proxima to Earth, not more than 4.4 light years. It is not for nothing that "proximity" is translated as "nearest".

By the way, with these stars in the wild peoples who once lived in the southern hemisphere, a large number of different legends and legends were associated. And Alpha Centauri in its spectrum, as well as the specific mass is very similar to the Sun. Moreover, around the star drawn planet of the earth type.

Briefly about the other stars

In addition to such stars as Alpha and Proxima Centauri, the constellation is known and other elements. For example, there is also Beta Centauri in it - a star of the first magnitude or, as it is also called, Agena, which in translation means "knee". Its other name is Khadar (translated as "land"). Like Alpha Centauri, it consists of several stars, but, unlike it, is located far from the Earth. Its distance from us is 525 light years.

On the level of brightness, Hadar occupies the tenth place in the night sky. The third star of the constellation Centaurus is called Theta. It is also called Menkent, which means "centaur's shoulder". Its size is 2.06 magnitude, it is located at a distance of more than 60 light years from the solar system. It is also worth mentioning such a famous star, included in this constellation, as Lucy, on scientific - BPM 37093. This white dwarf got its name due to the song of the group "The Beatles". The song is called "Lucy in the Heavens with Diamonds".

Other objects of the constellation

The constellation also boasts the presence of objects of the so-called deep space. That is, distant star clusters and nebulae. One such is the globular cluster under the number NGC 5139. It can be safely attributed to the most extensive and bright in the Milky Way galaxy. There are several million stars in it, which belong to the so-called population 2, that is, those that were found first in our starry sky. In the middle of this cluster, some stars are located to each other at a distance of less than one tenth of the light year. Also this cluster of stars is located to the solar system much closer than the others.

Another constellation Centaurus has a galaxy in the form of a lens. Its number is NGC 5128. It has a very low degree of star formation, it lies between the spiral and elliptical type of galaxies. It basically consists of the red stars that are in the stage of the last evolution. In terms of its brightness, it takes the fifth place.

You can also mention the nebula under number NGC 3918. Sometimes it is called "Southerner", and if you look at it in a telescope, it will look like a small blue circle resembling the planet Neptune.

A small conclusion

The constellation of the Centaurus belongs to the family of the constellations of Hercules, is one of the longest known constellations, enveloped in myths and legends. But is it the only thing on the night sky? How many interesting, new, unknown things are hidden in the starry sky. His secrets caused a lot of legends and legends. Many astronomical facts are already known to mankind, such as, for example, the history of the origin of our planet. But until now, the question remains whether we are alone in the universe. We still have to figure it out. Perhaps it will take more than one hundred years. In the meantime, we can only guess at the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations.