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Sagittarius (constellation)
 
 
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Sagittarius is one of the constellation
Constellation

A constellation is a group of stars that appear to have a physical proximity in the sky. The stars in a constellation are often vastly distant from each other, but they appear close to each other from the perspective of Earth....
s of the zodiac
Zodiac

Zodiac denotes an annual cycle of twelve stations along the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the heavens through the constellations that divide the ecliptic into twelve equal zones of celestial longitude....
. Its name is Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 for the archer
Archer

An archer is a person who is expert in the use of a bow and arrow . Examples of archers can be found at the List of archers article.They were used in ancient and medieval times as part of armies....
, and its symbol is , a stylized arrow. Sagittarius is commonly represented as a centaur
Centaur

In Greek mythology, the centaurs are a race of creatures composed of part human and part horse. In early Attica Pottery of ancient Greece, they are depicted with the torso of a human joined at the waist to the horse's withers, where the horse's neck would be....
 drawing a bow. It lies between Ophiuchus
Ophiuchus

Ophiuchus is a large constellation located around the celestial equator. Its name is Greek language for 'snake-holder', and it is commonly represented as a man grasping the snake that is represented by the constellation Serpens....
 to the west and Capricornus
Capricornus

Capricornus is one of the constellations of the zodiac; it is often called Capricorn, especially when referring to the corresponding Capricorn ....
 to the east.

constellation's brighter stars (from left to right on the map: t, ?, s, f, ?, e, d, ? and ?2 Sagittarii) form an easily recognizable asterism
Asterism (astronomy)

In astronomy, an asterism is a pattern of stars seen in Earth's sky which is not an official constellation. Like constellations, they are composed of stars which, while they are in the same general direction, are not physically related, often being at significantly different distances from Earth....
 known as 'the Teapot
Teapot

A teapot is a vessel used for steeping tea leaves or an herbal mix in near-boiling water. Tea may be either in a tea bag or loose, in which case a tea strainer will be needed, either to hold the leaves as they steep or to catch the leaves inside the teapot when the tea is poured....
'.






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Sagittarius is one of the constellation
Constellation

A constellation is a group of stars that appear to have a physical proximity in the sky. The stars in a constellation are often vastly distant from each other, but they appear close to each other from the perspective of Earth....
s of the zodiac
Zodiac

Zodiac denotes an annual cycle of twelve stations along the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the heavens through the constellations that divide the ecliptic into twelve equal zones of celestial longitude....
. Its name is Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 for the archer
Archer

An archer is a person who is expert in the use of a bow and arrow . Examples of archers can be found at the List of archers article.They were used in ancient and medieval times as part of armies....
, and its symbol is
Sagittarius
, a stylized arrow. Sagittarius is commonly represented as a centaur
Centaur

In Greek mythology, the centaurs are a race of creatures composed of part human and part horse. In early Attica Pottery of ancient Greece, they are depicted with the torso of a human joined at the waist to the horse's withers, where the horse's neck would be....
 drawing a bow. It lies between Ophiuchus
Ophiuchus

Ophiuchus is a large constellation located around the celestial equator. Its name is Greek language for 'snake-holder', and it is commonly represented as a man grasping the snake that is represented by the constellation Serpens....
 to the west and Capricornus
Capricornus

Capricornus is one of the constellations of the zodiac; it is often called Capricorn, especially when referring to the corresponding Capricorn ....
 to the east.

Visualizations

The constellation's brighter stars (from left to right on the map: t, ?, s, f, ?, e, d, ? and ?2 Sagittarii) form an easily recognizable asterism
Asterism (astronomy)

In astronomy, an asterism is a pattern of stars seen in Earth's sky which is not an official constellation. Like constellations, they are composed of stars which, while they are in the same general direction, are not physically related, often being at significantly different distances from Earth....
 known as 'the Teapot
Teapot

A teapot is a vessel used for steeping tea leaves or an herbal mix in near-boiling water. Tea may be either in a tea bag or loose, in which case a tea strainer will be needed, either to hold the leaves as they steep or to catch the leaves inside the teapot when the tea is poured....
'. The stars d Sgr
Delta Sagittarii

Delta Sagittarii is a star system in the constellation Sagittarius . It also has the traditional names Kaus Media, Kaus Meridionalis, and Media....
 (Kaus Media), e Sgr
Epsilon Sagittarii

Epsilon Sagittarii is a binary star that lies 144.64 light-years distant in the constellation Sagittarius . It has a faint, 14th magnitude companion, Epsilon Sagittarii B, 32 arcseconds distant....
 (Kaus Australis), ? Sgr
Zeta Sagittarii

Zeta Sagittarii is the third brightest star system in the constellation Sagittarius . It also has the traditional name Ascella from a Late Latin word meaning armpit....
 (Ascella), and f Sgr
Phi Sagittarii

Phi Sagittarii is a star in the constellation Sagittarius .Phi Sagittarii is a stellar classification B8 giant star and has an apparent magnitude of +3.17....
 form the body of the pot; ? Sgr
Lambda Sagittarii

Lambda Sagittarii is a star within the constellation Sagittarius . The star marks the top of the Archer's bow, whence its traditional name Kaus Borealis....
 (Kaus Borealis) is the point of the lid; ?2 Sgr
Gamma Sagittarii

The Bayer designation Gamma Sagittarii is shared by two star systems in the constellation Sagittarius , ?1 Sagittarii and ?2 Sagittarii....
 (Alnasl) is the tip of the spout; and s Sgr
Sigma Sagittarii

Sigma Sagitarii is the second brightest star system in the constellation Sagittarius .Its modern name Nunki is an Assyrian or Babylonian name recovered by archaeologists and made public by R.H.Allen....
 (Nunki) and t Sgr
Tau Sagittarii

Tau Sagittarii is a star in the constellation Sagittarius , 120 light years from Earth. It also has the traditional name Hecatebolus , which was an alternate name for the god Apollo as the "Far Darter" or "Sharp-shooter", the god of sudden death....
 the handle.

The constellation as a whole is often depicted as having the rough appearance of a stick-figure archer drawing its bow, with the fainter stars providing its horse body.

Notable features


Stars

a Sgr
Alpha Sagittarii

Alpha Sagittarii is a star in the constellation of Sagittarius . It also has the traditional names called ???, derived from the Chinese Language...
 (Rukbat) is not the brightest star of the constellation, having a magnitude of only 3.96 (not shown on the main map as it is located below the map's southeastern corner, north is up).

This constellation contains the most stars with planets; 14 of its stars are known to have planets.

Deep-sky objects

The Milky Way
Milky Way

The Milky Way, sometimes called simply the Galaxy, is the galaxy in which the Solar System is located. It is a barred spiral galaxy that is part of the Local Group of galaxies....
 as seen from the Earth
Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun. Earth is the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in diameter, mass and density. It is also referred to as the World and Wiktionary:Terra.Note that by International Astronomical Union convention, the term "Terra" is used for naming extensive land masses, rather...
 is at its densest as it passes through Sagittarius, as this is where the galactic center
Galactic Center

The Galactic Center is the rotational center of the Milky Way galaxy. It is located about away from the Earth in the direction of the constellations Sagittarius , Ophiuchus_, and Scorpius where the Milky Way appears brightest....
 lies. Consequently, Sagittarius contains many star clusters and nebulae. One of the brightest of the star clusters is Messier 55
Messier 55

Messier 55 is a globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius . It was discovered by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1751 and catalogued by Charles Messier in 1778....
, about 7.5° west of d Sgr.

The constellation contains nebulae such as the Lagoon Nebula
Lagoon Nebula

The Lagoon Nebula is a giant interstellar cloud in the constellation Sagittarius . It is classified as an emission nebula and as an H II region....
 (Messier 8), near ? Betelgeuse, the Omega Nebula
Omega Nebula

The Omega Nebula, also known as the Swan Nebula is an H II region in the constellation Sagittarius . It was discovered by Philippe Loys de Ch?seaux in 1745....
 (Messier 17), also known as the Swan or Horseshoe Nebula, near the border with Scutum
Scutum

Scutum is a small constellation introduced in the seventeenth century. Its name is Latin for shield....
; and the Trifid Nebula
Trifid Nebula

The Trifid Nebula is an H II region located in Sagittarius constellation. Its name means 'divided into three lobes'. The object is an unusual combination of an open cluster of stars, an emission nebula , a reflection nebula and a dark nebula ....
 (Messier 20), a large nebula containing some very young, hot stars. The grouping of Lagoon Nebula, Trifid Nebula, and NGC 6559 is often called the Sagittarius triplet.

In 1999 a violent outburst at V4641 Sgr
V4641 Sgr

V4641 Sgr is a variable X-ray binary star system in the constellation Sagittarius . It is the source of one of the fastest superluminal jets in our galaxy....
 was thought to have revealed the location of the closest known black hole to Earth, but later investigation increased its estimated distance by a factor of 15.

The complex radio source Sagittarius A
Sagittarius A

Sagittarius A is a complex astronomical radio source at the Galactic Center of our galaxy, the Milky Way. It is located in the sky in the Sagittarius constellation....
 is also here. Astronomers believe that one of its components, known as Sagittarius A*
Sagittarius A*

Sagittarius A* is a bright and very compact astronomical radio source at the Galactic Center of the Milky Way Galaxy, part of a larger astronomical feature at that location ....
, is associated with a supermassive black hole
Supermassive black hole

A supermassive black hole is a black hole with a mass of an order of magnitude between 105 and 1010 solar masses. Most, if not all, galaxy, including the Milky Way, are believed to contain supermassive black holes at their centers....
 at the center of the galaxy
Galactic Center

The Galactic Center is the rotational center of the Milky Way galaxy. It is located about away from the Earth in the direction of the constellations Sagittarius , Ophiuchus_, and Scorpius where the Milky Way appears brightest....
.

The Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy
Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy

The Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy is an elliptical loop-shaped satellite galaxy of the Milky Way Galaxy. The main cluster which, in 1994, was the first to be discovered, is roughly 10,000 light-years in diameter, and is currently about 70,000 light-years from Earth and travelling in a polar orbit at a distance of about 50,000 light-yea...
 is located just outside the Milky Way
Milky Way

The Milky Way, sometimes called simply the Galaxy, is the galaxy in which the Solar System is located. It is a barred spiral galaxy that is part of the Local Group of galaxies....
.

Mythology

The Babylon
Babylon

Babylon was a city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, sometimes considered an empire, the remains of which can be found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Governorate, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad....
ians, identified Sagittarius as the god Pabilsag (which had wings and a lion's head).

In Greek mythology
Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
, Sagittarius is identified as a centaur
Centaur

In Greek mythology, the centaurs are a race of creatures composed of part human and part horse. In early Attica Pottery of ancient Greece, they are depicted with the torso of a human joined at the waist to the horse's withers, where the horse's neck would be....
, half human, half horse. In some legends, the Centaur Chiron
Chiron

In Greek mythology, Chiron or Cheiron was held as the superlative centaur among his brethren. Like the satyrs, centaurs were notorious for being overly indulgent drinkers and carousers, given to violence when intoxicated, and generally uncultured delinquents....
 was the son of Philyra
Philyra

In Greek mythology, Philyra was an Oceanid, a daughter of Oceanus and Tethys . She was married to Nauplius and had many children. Chiron was her son by Cronus....
 and Saturn
Saturn

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn, along with Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune, is classified as a gas giant....
, who was said to have changed himself into a horse to escape his jealous wife, Rhea
Rhea

Rhea commonly refers to:* Rhea , moon of Saturn* Rhea , a Titan in Greek mythologyRhea may also refer to:...
. Chiron was eventually immortalised in the constellation of Centaurus, or in some version, Sagittarius. The arrow of this constellation points towards the star Antares, the 'heart of the scorpion'.

Astrology

, the Sun appears in the constellation Sagittarius from December 18 to January 18. In tropical astrology
Tropical Astrology

Tropical astrology is a type of astrology based on a zodiac whose points of reference are the tropics. The word tropic comes from the Greek for "turning point," and originally meant the point at which the sun at sunrise and sunset appears to turn, and to move north in the northern hemisphere and south in the southern hemisphere along the...
, the Sun is considered to be in the sign Sagittarius
Sagittarius (astrology)

Sagittarius is the ninth astrological sign in the Zodiac, originating from the Sagittarius . In western astrology, the sign is no longer aligned with the constellation as a result of the Precession ....
 from November 23 to December 21, and in sidereal astrology
Sidereal astrology

Sidereal astrology is the system of astrology used by some Western and all Jyotish astrology who base their interpretation around the use of the Sidereal time zodiac....
, from December 16 to January 14.

See also

  • Sagitta


External links