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Sky Chart and Artist Rendering of Sagitta
Origin:
Sagitta is a tiny constellation (3rd smallest in the sky) but
easy to find. It is one of the 48 constellations described by
Ptolemy in the Almagest (A.D. 140) and the name is credited to him
(although Eratosthenes mentioned it prior to the time of Ptolemy).
It has been associated with an arrow by the ancient Armenians, Persians,
Hebrews, Arabs, and of course, Greeks and Romans.
Information:
Sagitta is larger than only Crux (the Southern
Cross) and Equuleus (the Foal) but is still
very easy to find. It is located almost exactly half-way between
Albireo in Cygnus and Altair in Aquila. The constellation sits in a field of
Milky Way stars so is delightful through binoculars. Sagitta
culminates at 9 pm on September 14. Sagitta is home to a loose
globular cluster (M71, NGC 6838), between 15,000 and 18,000 light years
away, which is splendid in a 20-cm (8") or larger telescope. In
a small telescope, the cluster looks much more like an open cluster or
even just a nebulous star patch.
Mythology:
Sagitta has been described as the arrow shot by Apollo to kill the
one-eyed giant, Cyclops, an arrow released by Cupid (god of Love), an
arrow shot by Hercules and is still in flight, and an arrow loosed by
Sagittarius the Archer (apparently, to nowhere in particular). In
short, there are too many legends associated with Sagitta to assign it
unequivocally to any legend. |
