What is the nearest star to Earth found in the constellation Centaurus?
Proxima Centauri, a red dwarf that is part of the Alpha Centauri triple star system, is the nearest star to the Sun. The system as a whole lies 4.4 light-years from Earth.
Questions about Centaurus
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What is Omega Centauri and why is it significant?
Omega Centauri (NGC 5139) is the largest and brightest globular cluster in the Milky Way, located 17,000 light-years from Earth with a diameter of 150 light-years and a magnitude of 3.7. It contains several million stars with an average age of 12 billion years, and astronomers suspect it is the remnant core of a dwarf galaxy absorbed by the Milky Way.
Who first determined that Omega Centauri was not a star?
Edmond Halley, the English astronomer, determined in 1677 that Omega Centauri was a nonstellar object. Its classification as a globular cluster was established by James Dunlop in 1827.
Which centaur does the constellation Centaurus represent in Greek mythology?
According to the Roman poet Ovid in Fasti v.379, Centaurus represents Chiron, the wise centaur who tutored Heracles, Theseus, and Jason. Chiron was accidentally poisoned by an arrow shot by Hercules and was subsequently placed among the stars.
What ancient civilization first recorded the constellation now known as Centaurus?
The constellation traces back to a Babylonian figure called the Bison-man (MUL.GUD.ALIM), closely associated with the sun god Utu-Shamash. By the late 3rd millennium BCE the Bison-man was replaced by a new constellation, and the Greeks later gave Centaurus its current centaur form and name.
What is the white dwarf star nicknamed Lucy in the constellation Centaurus?
BPM 37093 is a white dwarf in Centaurus whose carbon atoms are thought to have formed a crystalline structure. Scientists nicknamed it "Lucy" after the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" because diamond is also carbon arranged in a crystalline lattice.