Sagittarius Constellation: Facts & Myths

Have you ever tried to notice the sky at night? Filled with billions of stars twinkling and the bright full moon, it is such a breathtaking view to observe. Although, nowadays, due to so much pollution in the environment, it would not be possible to clearly view the stars with the naked eye.

A group of stars, known as constellations, have been the center of attraction as well as a debate for most of the researchers and astrologers for centuries. There are quite a lot of different constellations present in the sky, each of which is assigned some specific names. These constellations contain various stars or heavenly bodies.

Do you know what is your zodiac sign? Well, the zodiac signs are also a type of constellation. Most people have the habit to read their daily horoscope before starting a new day. How many of you belong to the star sign Sagittarius? But let’s not talk about the star signs because you must already be aware of them. Rather, let’s focus on the constellation of the same name and get to know more about the different facts and myths associated with it.

About the constellation-Things you didn’t know till now:-

Sagittarius is amongst the most famous constellations. Renowned astrologer Ptolemy listed this constellation with 48 others as well. It is also counted as a modern constellation which holds a prominent rank. The word ‘Sagittarius’ is a Latin word for an archer. Sagittarius lies between two other constellations, i.e., Ophiuchus and Scorpius which are to the west of it.

The constellation Capricornus lies to the east of Sagittarius. Mythologically, this constellation is associated with the greek character Crotus, a satyr who used to be in the company of all the Muses that lived on the Mount Helicon. Sagittarius is considered to be the largest constellation in the southern hemisphere or sky.

There would be no sort of problem in finding or locating this particular constellation as it’s quite visible because of the fact that it lies exactly in our galaxy, i.e., Milky Way. All the brightest stars of Sagittarius forms a kind of an asterism which is called as Teapot. Some of the famous objects of the deep sky are present inside this constellation. They are:-

  • Quintuplet Cluster
  • Arches Cluster
  • Sagittarius A
  • Pistol Star
  • Galactic Centre

These are just a few known names of the object which have been found by the astrologers. Bubble Nebula and Barnard’s Galaxy are also to be seen forming a part of this constellation.

Get amazed by some facts about Sagittarius:-

Want to know some interesting facts about the constellation Sagittarius, then maybe the following mentioned points could be of some help to you:-

  • In terms of size, this constellation is the 15th largest that can be seen at night.
  • A total of 867 square° is occupied by it.
  • You can see this constellation at the latitudes which lie between -90° and +55°.
  • Some of the neighboring constellations of Sagittarius are Capricornus, Indus, Telescopium, Scorpius, Scutum, Corona Australis and many more.
  • There are a total of seven stars which are brighter than the magnitude of 3.00.
  • Kaus Australis is the brightest star of Sagittarius.
  • Next comes Epsilon Sagittarii which has a magnitude of around 1.79.
  • At a distance of 9.69 light years, Ross is the nearest star to Earth.
  • Around 32 stars in this constellation have planets.
  • There are fifteen messier objects in Sagittarius namely, Swan, Messier 8, Messier 18, Messier 54, Messier, 75, etc.

Are we all done with reading the amazing facts associated with this constellation? So now comes the time to make you aware of the different kinds of myths which are in regards to Sagittarius constellation.

Myths associated with Sagittarius constellation:-

Astrologers have been studying different constellations and heavenly bodies for a very long time. Centuries have passed and still, we are trying to gather as much knowledge as possible about these things. In order to understand and remember them better, people usually started associating several myths with these constellations.

Some of the myths related to Sagittarius constellations can be found to be mentioned below:-

  • According to the Greek mythology, the constellation Sagittarius is represented by a centaur. A centaur is known to be a mythical creature that is a half horse and half human. This creature, i.e., centaur can be seen with an arrow that is pointed towards another constellation of Scorpio.
  • Sagittarius should not be confused with the creature named Chiron, who was also a centaur.
  • The roots of Sagittarius constellation can be found in the Sumerian mythology as well.
  • The famous Greek mathematician and astronomer Eratosthenes associated this constellation with the creature named Crotus.
  • It was also argued that Sagittarius constellation does not represent a centaur and resembles more like a satyr.
  • The Babylonian god Nergal is associated with this particular assemblage of stars.

There are other myths too about this constellation which you can know about with the help of the internet. Let’s talk about some of the stars that are present inside the Sagittarius constellation.

The Major group of stars in Sagittarius:-

The Sagittarius constellation is build up of various heavenly bodies and stars. Brightest among all the stars is the Epsilon Sagittarii, with a magnitude of 1.85. Then at the second place is Sigma Sagittarii which has the magnitude of 2.08. There is a star called by name Numki that is approximately at a distance of two hundred and sixty light years from Earth.

Our Milky Way galaxy is found to be densest near this constellation. The reason for this is the presence of Galactic Center in Sagittarius. Delta Sagittarii, Zeta Sagittarii, and Eta Sagittarii are the names of other known stars of this constellation. The next time when you get a chance to see constellations in the sky make sure to check for this one in particular. A visit to any nearby planetarium can prove to be beneficial for those who are very much interested in knowing about different constellations.