Centaurus is a bright constellation in the southern sky. One of the largest constellations in the sky, Centaurus was included among the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations.
Centaurus contains the Alpha Centauri system, a triple star system consisting of a bright binary star to which the much fainter red dwarf Proxima Centauri is gravitationally bound; Proxima is the ne...
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Centaurus is a bright constellation in the southern sky. One of the largest constellations in the sky, Centaurus was included among the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations.
Centaurus contains the Alpha Centauri system, a triple star system consisting of a bright binary star to which the much fainter red dwarf Proxima Centauri is gravitationally bound; Proxima is the nearest known star to the Sun.
In addition to Alpha Centauri, the 4th brightest star in the sky, a second first magnitude star, Hadar, is part of Centaurus.
One of the stars in Centaurus (BPM 37093) is a white dwarf whose carbon atoms are thought to have formed a crystalline structure. Since diamond also consists of carbon arranged in a crystalline lattice (though of a different configuration), scientists have nicknamed this star "Lucy" after the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds."
Centaurus contains ω Centauri (NGC 5139) which,...
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