Sagittarius – The Archer

Sagittarius is usually described as a centaur, horse from the waist down and man above the waist. The constellation was placed in the night sky by Zeus to honor Chiron, the king of the centaurs. Chiron had galloped into a battle where some bad centaurs were attacking Hercules, and a good centaur, Pholus. Hercules was defending Pholus from the bad centaurs by shooting poison-tippedarrows at them. Not knowing that Chiron was there, Hercules shot one of his poison-tipped arrows at him by mistake and hit him. When Chiron fell to the ground, all of the other centaurs galloped away. Because he had been made immortal long before, Chiron did not die. He would have to live in horrible pain forever. Zeus took pity on him and ended Chiron’s great pain by allowing him to die.

Occupying 867 square degrees and containing the most stars with known planets (16), Sagittarius is the largest constellation in the Southern Hemisphere and the 15th largest constellation overall. The constellation has many bright stars and is very visible with the naked eye.

As is the case with all of the Zodiac constellations, Sagittarius was recorded in the 2nd century by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy, and it is Latin for archer.

Sagittarius is at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, and the galaxy is at its densest point as it makes its way through Sagittarius.

In addition to Capricornus and Scorpius, the constellation borders Aquila, Scutum, Serpens Cauda, Ophiuchus, Corona Australis, Telescopium, Indus and Microscopium.

•Right ascension: 19.11 hours

•Declination: -25.8 degrees.

•Visible: between 55 degrees and -90 degree

•Best viewed: August around 9 p.m.