#proxima centauri

[weepingicegiant]

art dump!

follow me on twt! @ kinderchocyie

[the-wolf-and-moon]

Alpha and Proxima Centauri

[quiltofstars]

The constellation of Centaurus, the Centaur // E. Slawik/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Zamani

Click below to read more info about this constellation and some of the named stars! You'll also have an annotated image to refer to!

Centaurus, the Centaur, is a southern constellation and one of the original 48 that Greek astronomer Ptolemy set down. Centaurus has long been seen as a half-man, half-beast as early as the Babylonians who saw it as the Bison-man.

According to Ovid, Centaurus represents the centaur Chiron, who was a tutor to Heracles, Theseus, and Jason (leader of the Argonauts). He was put into the heavens after accidentally being hit with a poison arrow show by Heracles.

In order of brightness, the named stars are:

Rigil Kentaurus (α Centauri A), a Sun-like star about 4.3 light years away. It is the dominant member of a triple star system, consisting of itself, Toliman (α Centauri B), and Proxima Centauri (α Centauri C). Toliman is another Sun-like star, while Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf. The name Rigil Kentaurus comes from the Arabic phrase Rijl al-Qinṭūrus meaning "foot of the Centaur." The name Toliman comes from the Arabic aẓ-Ẓalīmān meaning "the ostriches."

Hadar (β Centauri) is another triple star system, this time of three blue giant stars, all about 361 light years away. The name comes from the Arabic word meaning "to be present."

Menkent (θ Centauri) is a solitary orange giant star about 59 light years away. The name comes from the Arabic word mankib meaning "shoulder."

Muhlifain (γ Centauri) is a binary star system consisting of two blue-white giant stars about 130 light years away. The name comes from the Arabic word muħlifayn meaning "jurors."

Leepwal (ζ Centauri) is a binary star system about 382 light years away. Its name comes from the Marshallese language.

Kulou (ι Centauri) is a solitary blue-white giant star about 59 light years away. Its name comes from the Chinese word Kulou (库楼) meaning "the arsenal."

Heng (ν Centauri) is a binary star system about 437 light years away. Its name also comes from the Chinese word heng (衡) meaning "pivot."

[rafora]

She doesn't even think of you

[winguontheweb]

had the idea that the computer tablets on Proxima b are primarily meant to be held by their arms and tapped on by their whiskers, so I envisioned this cute, young couple talking over one!

[crimsonterror577]

A Drone of Theseus, and JCJenson, part 2.

[mellllllllllly]

Star revolution.

(In addition to the Centaurus, there is Sirius, the stars of Orion's belt and Altair)

[spaceraceart]

the solar system lives in the orion arm, a suburban corner of the milky way. our closest neighbors are the alpha centauri stars, a group of farming star brothers who all hate each other. while sol and proxima are fairly close, sol has a rivalry with the largest star, "kent".