Sagitta the Arrow
Despite
its small size Sagitta is the 3rd smallest constellation
in the sky this arrow shaped constellation as known to the ancient
Greeks. In the sky the arrow seems to be flying between Cygnus and
Aquila. One legend says the arrow was shot by Hercules. Sagitta lies
in a very river part of the galaxy.
The
brightest star is gamma at magnitude 3.5, its a M0 red giant star
with a temperature of 3,800’C and lies 258 light years away.
Delta
has a magnitude 3.7 another red giant this time a M2 star with a
temperature of 3,600’C. The star is 590 light years away.
Both
alpha and beta are only magnitude 4.4
M71
was once an object of controversy among astronomers. Some argued it
was a loose globular while others claimed it was an an extremely
dense open cluster.
There
is no doubt today however that M71 is a globular cluster- a very
near one being only 13,000 light years away. Which is why it has the
lack of a dense centre typical of more distant globulars.
M71
lies between the stars gamma and delta and is of mag 8.0 which means
that it can be glimpsed through binoculars.
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