Centaurus Constellation

Little A's choice on mother's day, We will look at her favourite constellation, Centaurus.

Centaurus Constellation:

Centaurus is a bright constellation in the southern sky. One of the largest constellations, Centaurus contains several very bright stars. The alpha and beta stars of this constellation are used as "pointer stars" to help observers find the constellation Crux.

Centaurus represents a centaur; a creature that is half human, half horse, in our Hindu mythology they are demi-gods called Gandharva, sometimes they can be half bird and half human too. This fascinates Little A.

The main star Rigil Kentaurus, is the fourth individual brightest star in the night sky, only slightly fainter than Arcturus in the constellation Boötes. 

The second star, Hadar, is derived from the Arabic word for “ground,” also known as Agena comes from the Latin word for “the knee.”

Menkent, means “shoulder of the Centaur” in Arabic. The star is also sometimes known as haratan.