Centaurus - The Centaur
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Centaurus is a southern constellation representing a centaur. It is of note, as it contains proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun. The brightest star of the constellation, alpha Centauri, is the closest bright star to us, it shines at magnitude -0.3 and is the third brightest in the sky. Centaurus contains the planetary nebula, NGC 3918, which looks similar to the planet Uranus. John Hershel named it the Blue Planetary. The largest and brightest globular cluster is visible in this constellation. It is NGC 5139 and covers an area larger than the full moon. At 16,000 light years away, it is one of the closest globular clusters to us. A very important radio source, NGC 5128 can be seen in Centaurus. It is known as Centaurus A, and can be seen visually at around magnitude 7. On the right is Bayer's drawing of Centaurus, made in 1661.