Omega Centauri

8.2

A very large bright group of stars in the southern sky you can see without a telescope

proper noun

: Omega Centauri

Look at Omega Centauri!
Omega Centauri cluster

Examples

It's Omega Centauri!
Astronomers have long studied Omega Centauri because of its unusually large population of stars.
Some scientists believe Omega Centauri may be the core of a dwarf galaxy captured by the Milky Way.
With binoculars, you can spot Omega Centauri shining brightly in the southern night sky.
Omega Centauri is a spectacular globular cluster that can be seen clearly with the naked eye from the Southern Hemisphere.
When stargazing from Australia, I was amazed to spot Omega Centauri shining brightly in the night sky.
In the constellation of Centaurus, Omega Centauri stands out as the largest and brightest globular cluster visible to observers.

Surface Forms

Omega Centauri main

Morphology

omega + Centauri

The name is compositional in that it combines the Greek letter 'omega' with a genitive form referring to the constellation Centaurus, so a learner who knows the constituents would likely infer it is an astronomical object in Centaurus (e.g., a star or stellar object). However, the specific sense 'a large, bright globular cluster visible to the naked eye' is specialized and not directly predictable from the parts, so the relation is only partially transparent.

Etymology

The name Omega Centauri comes from old star naming: Omega is the Greek letter often used to mark an object and is thought of as the 'last' letter, and Centauri means 'of Centaurus', the centaur figure in the sky. So the name points to a large, bright group of stars in the part of the sky called Centaurus.