Sagittarius the Archer
An ancient
constellation depicting a centaur, half man, half beast with a raised
bow and arrow. Sagittarius has been visualised this way since at
least ancient Greek times. It probably originated with the Sumerian
civilization around the river Euphrates who saw him as Nergal, their
archer god of war.
It
is an older constellation than the other celestial centaur, Centaurus
and is different in character. Whereas Centaurus is identified as a
scholarly beneficent creature, Sagittarius is depicted with a
threatening look aiming his arrow at the heart of Scorpio the
Scorpion.
The stars of
Sagittarius are often depicted as forming a teapot while a ladle
known as the Milk Dipper a suitable implement to dip into this rich
region of the Milky Way. The centre of our galaxy lies in Sagittarius
so that the Milky Way star field are very rich here.
The
centre of the galaxy is marked by a radio source known as Sagittarius
A near the border with Scorpios. The main attraction of Sagittarius
are its nebulas and clusters. There are 15 Messier objects more than
any other constellation.
The
brightest star, epsilon also known as Kaus Australis which means the
southern part of the bow has a magnitude of 1.8 and is a B9 giant
star with a temperature of 9,500’C and lies 143 light years away.
Sigma
or Nunki with a magnitude of 2.0 and lying 228 lihjy teras away. It
is a B2 class star with a temperature of 18,500’C.
Delta
at magnitude 2.7 is also know as Kaus Media which means the middle of
the bow, its an orange K3 giant star with a temperature of 4,000’C
and is 348 light years away.
Lambda
or Kaus Borealis which means northern part of the bow has a magnitude
of 2.8 and is an orange K0 star with a temperature
of 4,700’C. It is 78 light years away.
Gamma
of Al Nasl which means the point of the arrow is a magnitude 3.0 star
lying 98 light years away. It is another K0 class star with a
temperature of 4,600’C.
Alpha
is only mag 4.0, its a B3 class star with a temperature of 12,000’C
and is 182 light years away.
Sagittarius is home
to M8 the Lagoon Nebula, M17 the Omega Nebula, M18, M20 the Triffid
Nebula, M21, M22, M23, M24, M25, M28, M54, M55, M69, M70,and M75
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