Month Best Visible
May
Hemisphere Visible
Southern
Centaurus contains the Alpha Centauri system, a triple star system consisting of a bright binary star. A second magnitude star, Hadar is also part of Centaurus.
Centaurus has traditionally been identified as a centaur, a mythological creature, half man, half horse. Centaurus, the Centaur, is one of the largest constellations in the sky. It represents Chiron, one of the half-man, half-horse beasts of Greek mythology. Chiron was accidentally wounded by Hercules. After his death, Hercules honored him by giving him a place in the stars.
