The "Teapot" asterism is in Sagittarius. The Milky Way is the "steam" coming from the spout. The galactic centerSagittarius A* is located off the top of the spout.
As seen from the northern hemisphere, the constellation's brighter stars form an easily recognizableasterism known as "theTeapot".[1][2] The starsδ Sgr (Kaus Media),ε Sgr (Kaus Australis),ζ Sgr (Ascella), andφ Sgr form the body of the pot;λ Sgr (Kaus Borealis) is the point of the lid;γ2 Sgr (Alnasl) is the tip of the spout; andσ Sgr (Nunki) andτ Sgr the handle. These same stars originally formed the bow and arrow of Sagittarius.[3]
Marking the bottom of the teapot's "handle" (or the shoulder area of the archer), is the bright star (2.59 magnitude)Zeta Sagittarii (ζ Sgr), namedAscella, and the fainterTau Sagittarii (τ Sgr).
To complete the teapot metaphor, under dark skies a particularly dense area of theMilky Way (theLarge Sagittarius Star Cloud) can be seen rising in a north-westerly arc above the spout, like a puff of steam rising from a boiling kettle.[4]
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 the outline of the horse's body. Sagittarius famously points its arrow at the heart ofScorpius, represented by the reddish starAntares, as the two constellations race around the sky. Following the direct line formed byDelta Sagittarii (δ Sgr) andGamma2 Sagittarii (γ2 Sgr) leads nearly directly to Antares. Fittingly, Gamma2 Sagittarii isAlnasl, the Arabic word for "arrowhead", and Delta Sagittarii is calledKaus Media, the "center of the bow," from which the arrow protrudes. Kaus Media bisectsLambda Sagittarii (λ Sgr) andEpsilon Sagittarii (ε Sgr), whose names Kaus Borealis and Kaus Australis refer to the northern and southern portions of the bow, respectively.[5]
Due to its astronomical interest and its status as a Zodiac constellation, Sagittarius is one of the best-known constellations and is considered a prominent feature of the summer skies in the northern hemisphere. However, at locations north of 43°N the constellation either drags along the southern horizon, or it does not rise at all. By contrast, in most of the southern hemisphere Sagittarius can appear overhead or nearly so. It is hidden behind the Sun's glare from mid-November to mid-January and is the location of the Sun at the December solstice. By March, Sagittarius is rising at midnight. In June, it achieves opposition and can be seen all night. The June full moon appears in Sagittarius.
In classical antiquity, Capricorn was the location of the Sun at the December solstice, but due to theprecession of the equinoxes, this had shifted to Sagittarius by the time of theRoman Empire. By approximately 2700 AD, the Sun will be inScorpius at the December solstice.
The constellation Sagittarius. North is to the left. The line going to the right connects ζ to α and β Sagittarii. Above this line one seesCorona Australis.
α Sgr (Rukbat, meaning "the archer's knee"[6]) despite having the "alpha" designation, is not the brightest star of the constellation, having a magnitude of only 3.96. It is towards the bottom center of the map as shown. Instead, the brightest star isEpsilon Sagittarii (ε Sgr) ("Kaus Australis," or "southern part of the bow"), at magnitude 1.85, or about seven times as bright as α Sgr.[7]
Sigma Sagittarii (σ Sgr) ("Nunki") is the constellation's second-brightest star at magnitude 2.08. Nunki is a B2V star approximately 260 light-years away.[6] "Nunki" is aBabylonian name of uncertain origin, but thought to represent the sacred Babylonian city ofEridu on theEuphrates, which would make Nunki the oldest star name currently in use.[5]
Zeta Sagittarii (ζ Sgr) ("Ascella"), with apparent magnitude 2.61 of A2 spectra, is actually a double star whose two components have magnitudes 3.3 and 3.5.[8]
Delta Sagittarii (δ Sgr) ("Kaus Meridionalis"), is a K2 spectra star with magnitude 2.71 about 350 light years from Earth.[8]
Eta Sagittarii (η Sgr) is a double star with component magnitudes of 3.18 and 10, whilePi Sagittarii (π Sgr) ("Albaldah")[9] is actually a triple system whose components have magnitudes 3.7, 3.8, and 6.0.[8]
The Bayer designationBeta Sagittarii (Beta Sgr, β Sagittarii, β Sgr) is shared by two star systems, β¹ Sagittarii, with apparent magnitude 3.96, and β² Sagittarii, magnitude 7.4. The two stars are separated by 0.36° in the sky and are 378 light-years from earth.Beta Sagittarii, located at a position associated with the forelegs of the centaur, has the traditional name "Arkab", meaning "Achilles tendon".
Nova Sagittarii 2015 No. 2 was discovered on 15 March 2015,[10] by John Seach of Chatsworth Island, NSW, Australia. It lies near the center of the constellation. It reached a peak magnitude of 4.3 before steadily fading.
Sagittarius contains two well-knownstar clouds, both considered fine binocular objects.
TheLarge Sagittarius Star Cloud is the brightest visible region of the Milky Way. It is a portion of the central bulge of the galaxy seen around the thick dust of theGreat Rift, and is the innermost galactic structure that can be observed in visible wavelengths. It has several embedded clusters and superimposed dark nebulae.[11]
Sagittarius contains several well-known nebulae, including theLagoon Nebula (Messier 8), near λ Sagittarii; theOmega Nebula (Messier 17), near the border withScutum; and theTrifid Nebula (Messier 20), a large nebula containing some very young, hot stars.
TheLagoon Nebula (M8) is an emission nebula that is located 5,000 light-years from Earth and measures 140 light-years by 60 light-years (1.5°). Though it appears grey in telescopes to the unaided eye, long-exposure photographs reveal its pink hue, common to emission nebulae.[13] It is fairly bright, with an integrated magnitude of 3.0.[14] The Lagoon Nebula was discovered independently byJohn Flamsteed in 1680,[15]Guillaume Le Gentil in 1747,[13] andCharles Messier in 1764.[15] The central area of the Lagoon Nebula is also known as the Hourglass Nebula, so named for its distinctive shape. The Hourglass Nebula has its shape because of matter propelled byHerschel 36. The Lagoon Nebula also features threedark nebulae listed in theBarnard Catalogue.[13] The Lagoon Nebula was instrumental in the discovery ofBok globules, asBart Bok studied prints of the nebula intensively in 1947. Approximately 17,000 Bok globules were discovered in the nebula nine years later as a part of thePalomar Sky Survey; studies later showed that Bok's hypothesis that the globules heldprotostars was correct.[16]
TheOmega Nebula is a fairly bright nebula, sometimes called the Horseshoe Nebula or Swan Nebula. It has an integrated magnitude of 6.0 and is 4890 light-years from Earth. It was discovered in 1746 byPhilippe Loys de Chésaux; observers since him have differed greatly in how they view the nebula, hence its myriad of names. Most often viewed as a checkmark, it was seen as a swan byGeorge F. Chambers in 1889, a loon byRoy Bishop, and as a curl of smoke byCamille Flammarion.[17]
TheTrifid Nebula (M20, NGC 6514) is an emission nebula in Sagittarius that lies less than two degrees from the Lagoon Nebula. Discovered by French comet-hunterCharles Messier, it is located between 2,000 and 9,000 light-years from Earth and has a diameter of approximately 50 light-years. The outside of the Trifid Nebula is a bluishreflection nebula; the interior is pink with two dark bands that divide it into three areas, sometimes called "lobes". Hydrogen in the nebula is ionized, creating its characteristic color, by a central triple star, which formed in the intersection of the two dark bands.[13] M20 is associated with a cluster that has a magnitude of 6.3.[18]
TheRed Spider Nebula (NGC 6537) is a planetary nebula located at a distance of about 4000 light-years from Earth.
NGC 6559 is a star-forming region located at a distance of about 5000 light-years from Earth, in the constellation of Sagittarius, showing both emission (red) and reflection (blue) regions.
In addition, several other nebulae have been located within Sagittarius and are of interest to astronomy.
NGC 6638 is a dimmer globular at magnitude 9.2, though it is more distant than M71 at a distance of 26,000 light-years. It is a Shapley class VI cluster; the classification means that it has an intermediate concentration at its core. It is approximately a degree away from the brighter globularsM22 andM28; NGC 6638 is southeast and southwest of the clusters respectively.[20]
Messier 54 was the first globular cluster found that is outside the Milky Way.[21]
In 1999 a violent outburst atV4641 Sgr was thought to have revealed the location of the closest known black hole to Earth,[22] but later investigation increased its estimated distance by a factor of 15.[23] The complex radio sourceSagittarius A is also in Sagittarius, near its western boundary withOphiuchus. Astronomers believe that one of its components, known asSagittarius A*, is associated with asupermassive black hole at thecenter of the galaxy, with a mass of 2.6 millionsolar masses.[24] Although not visible to the naked eye, Sagittarius A* is located off the top of the spout of the Teapot asterism.[1] TheSagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy is located just outside theMilky Way.
Baade's Window is an area with very littleobscuring dust that shows objects closer to the Milky Way's center than would normally be visible.NGC 6522, magnitude 8.6, andNGC 6528, magnitude 9.5, are both globular clusters visible through Baade's Window. 20,000 and 24,000 light-years from Earth, with Shapley classes of VI and V respectively, both are moderately concentrated at their cores. NGC 6528 is closer to the galactic core at an approximate distance of 2,000 light-years.[25]
2MASS-GC02, also known asHurt 2, is aglobular cluster at a distance of about 16 thousandlight-years fromEarth. It was discovered in 2000 by Joselino Vasquez, and confirmed by a team of astronomers under the leadership of R. J. Hurt at2MASS.[26]
Thespace probeNew Horizons is moving on a trajectory out of the Solar System as of 2016 that places the probe in front of Sagittarius as seen from the Earth.[27] New Horizons will exhaust itsradioisotope thermoelectric generator long before it reaches any other stars.
TheWow! signal was a strong narrowband radio signal that appeared to have come from the direction of Sagittarius.[28]
Sagittarius as depicted inUrania's Mirror, a set of constellation cards published in London c. 1825. The Terebellum is seen in the back of the centaur
The Babylonians identified Sagittarius as the godNergal, a centaur-like creature firing an arrow from a bow.[29] It is generally depicted with wings, with two heads, one panther head and one human head, as well as a scorpion's stinger raised above its more conventional horse's tail. The Sumerian namePabilsag is composed of two elements – Pabil, meaning 'elder paternal kinsman' and Sag, meaning 'chief, head'. The name may thus be translated as the 'Forefather' or 'Chief Ancestor'.[30] The figure is reminiscent of modern depictions of Sagittarius.
InGreek mythology, Sagittarius is usually identified as acentaur: half human, half horse. However, perhaps due to the Greeks' adoption of the Sumerian constellation, some confusion surrounds the identity of the archer.[5] Some identify Sagittarius as the centaurChiron, the son ofPhilyra andCronus, who was said to have changed himself into a horse to escape his jealous wife,Rhea, and tutor toJason. As there are two centaurs in the sky, some identify Chiron with the other constellation, known asCentaurus.[5] Or, as an alternative tradition holds, that Chiron devised the constellations Sagittarius and Centaurus to help guide the Argonauts in their quest for the Golden Fleece.[31]
A competing mythological tradition, as espoused byEratosthenes, identified the Archer not as a centaur but as thesatyrCrotus, son ofPan, who Greeks credited with the invention of archery.[5][32] According to myth, Crotus often went hunting on horseback and lived among theMuses, who requested thatZeus place him in the sky, where he is seen demonstrating archery.[5]
The arrow of this constellation points towards the starAntares, the "heart of the scorpion", and Sagittarius stands poised to attack should Scorpius ever attack the nearbyHercules, or to avenge Scorpius's slaying ofOrion.[33]
On the west side of the constellation,Ptolemy also described theasterismTerebellum consisting of four 4th magnitude stars, including the closest and fastest moving member,Omega Sagittarii.[34][35]
As of 2002[update], the Sun appears in the constellation Sagittarius from 18 December to 18 January. Intropical astrology, the Sun is considered to be in the sign Sagittarius from 22 November to 21 December, and insidereal astrology, from 16 December to 14 January.[36]
^abcdWilkins, Jamie; Dunn, Robert (2006).300 Astronomical Objects: A Visual Reference to the Universe (1st ed.). Buffalo, New York: Firefly Books.ISBN978-1-55407-175-3.
^White, Gavin (2008).Babylonian Star-lore. Solaria Pubs. p. 155.
^Richard H. Allen (1899),Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning, G. E. Stechert, p. 353OCLC30773662
^Theony Condos, Ph.D. (Red Wheel/Weiser 1997)Star Myths of the Greeks and Romans: A Sourcebook, p. 186ISBN978-1609256784.
^Milton D. Heifetz (Cambridge University Press 2004)A Walk Through the Heavens: A Guide to Stars and Constellations and Their Legends, p. 66ISBN978-0521544153.
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