Centaurus

Work Cited

Rao, Joe. "Night Sky Creatures: How to Spot the Centaur and the Wolf."Space.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

Ridpath, Ian. "Centaurus The Centaur." Ian Ridpath's Star Tales. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

Mark, Joshua J. "Babylon." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient History Encyclopedia, 28 Apr. 2011. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

Stellar Brightness." The 26 Brightest Stars. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

"Centaurus." Centaurus. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

"Constellation Guide." Constellation Guide. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

"Alpha Centauri." Constellation Guide. N.p., 06 July 2014. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

"10 Interesting Facts About Alpha Centauri." Astronomy Trek. N.p., 2016. Web. 30 Oct. 2016.

"Menkent - Theta Centauri - HD123139 - HIP68933." Universe Guide. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

Theta Centauri

• Theta Centauri, or Menkent, is the 54th brightest star in the sky
• Star class: K (Orange)
• Tempeartures range from 3,500ºK to 5,000ºK
• Its apparent magnitude is 2.06
• It's around 10.93 or 11 times bigger than the Sun
• Its mass is 3.00 times that of the Sun
• It's around 60 times brighter than the Sun

Map and location

Background

Alpha Centauri

-Right Ascension: 13 hours

-Declination: -50º

-Visible between latitudes 30º and -90º

-Best seen in May (at 9 PM)

-"Centaurus can be seen completely from the Florida Keys, southernmost Texas, and the Hawaiian Islands."

• Brightest star in the constellan
• Star class: G (Yellow - like the Sun)
• Also known as Rigil Kentaurus
• It's believed to be around 4.5 to 7 billion years old
• "Rigil Kentaurus" is a romanization of the Arabic equivalent "Rijl al-Qanṭuris", which denotes to "foot of the centaur"
• Alpha Centauri is located at foot or at the southernmost point of the constellation
• Its apparent magnitude is -0.01
• Its temperatures range from 5,000ºK to 6,000ºK
• Its mass is 1.00 times that of the Sun
• It's 1.25 times bigger than the Sun
• Its luminosity is 1.5 times that of the Sun

Two Brightest Stars

• "The Centaur" - half human, half centaur or horse
• Centaurus is comprised of 11 stars
• Some of the stars are... Alpha Centauri (Rigil Kentaurus),Beta Centauri (Hadar),HR 5171 (contains largest known yellow hypergiant), Omega Centauri, Proxima Centauri,and Theta Centauri (Menkent).
• Brightest star: Alpha Centauri
• Alpha Centauri is also the fourth brightest star in the sky and is believed to be a triple star system (Alpha Centauri A/Rigil Kentaurus, Alpha Centauri B/Hadar or Beta Centauri, and Alpha Centauri C/Proxima)
• Centaurus is the ninth largest constellation in the sky
• Centaurus belongs to what is called the Hercules family of constellations

• Alpha Centauri(3rd brightest in the sky)
• Star type/class G (Yellow)
• Beta Centauri(10th brightest in the sky)
• Star type/class B (Blue)

Myth 1 Background

Greek/Roman

Myth 2 Background

Babylonian

• Ties in with the constellation family, as the subject of the myth, Chiron, was killed by one of Heracles/Hercules' arrow
• Centaurs were the half-man, half-horse mythical creatures
• Centaurs were badly behaved beasts

• Babylon = most famous city in Ancient Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq)
• Dates back to the early 2300s BCE {prior to 2334 BCE}
• Known for Hammurabi's code, a set of laws that King Hammurabi implemented to ensure peace and prosperity

Myth 2 Story

Myth 1 Story

• Babylonians knew Centaurus as the Bison-man
• It was viewed as a bovine with a human head and torso on its rear legs
• This creature was linked to Utu, the sun god

• Contrary to all others, a distinguished, wise, and well-learned centaur, Chiron,represents the Centaurus constellation
• Chiron was a skilled tutor of hunting, medicine, and music
• He mentored Jason and Achilles and many others
• Chiron died a tragic death when Heracles’ arrow accidentally struck him during an attack Chiron had nothing to do with
• Chiron’s advanced medical knowledge could not save him from the poison of
• Hydra’s blood on Heracles’ arrows, which caused him great pain, but his immortality as the son of Cronus prevented him from dying
• To alleviate his suffering, Zeus allowed Chiron to transfer his immortality to Prometheus
• Chiron died and Zeus placed him among the stars of Centaurus to honor him

Epsilon Centauri

Proxima Centauri

• Epsilon Centauri is a gigantic blue star
• It's one of the brightest stars in the solar system
• It's determined by the equivalent of the longitude and latitude on Earth's surface
• Epsilon's apparent magnitude is 2.29
• Its luminosity is approximately three times that of the Sun
• It's said to be around 16 million years old
• Star type/class: B (Blue)
• Temperatures range from 10,000ºK to 28,000ºK

• Discovered in 1915 by Scottish astronomer, Robert Innes
• Closest star to the Sun
• Proxima Centauri is extremely small and as such, it cannot be seen by the naked eye
• If one wanted to view Proxima, tools would be needed
• It's part of the Alpha Centauri triple star system
• It's distant from its companians and orbits them from afar
• Unlike other known stars due to its not losing fuel as a result of slow movement and as such, its lifespan is longer
• Its size is around 14% that of the Sun
• Its mass is 12% of the Sun
• Star type/class: M (Red)
• It's 55% as hot as the Sun, which is equivalent to 3,255ºK (5,400ºF/2,982ºCº)
• Its apparent magnitude is 11.05
• It's luminosity is 600 times fainter than the Sun
• It's said to be around five billion years old

Alpha Centauri

Proxima Centauri

Theta Centauri

Epsilon Centauri

Centaurus

Hanya Mohamed and Maya Abou El Nasr

AST 02