My first Magazine Sky & Telescope - 04.2019 | Page 25

ion
BRIGHTEST OF THEM ALL
In ancient times Crux, the Southern
Cross, marked the rear hooves of
Centaurus, the Centaur. That gave
Centaurus nine 1st- and 2nd-magni-
tude stars, two more than runner-up
Orion. The prominent white ball just
above the line marking the Centaur’s
back is Omega Centauri, the sky’s
brightest globular cluster.
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