LOCATION.--The little cluster of five stars forming Delphinus is to be
seen about 10° northeast of Altair, and, though there are no bright
stars in the group, it can hardly escape notice. A line drawn from
Vega to Albireo, and prolonged about 20°, strikes the star ε in the
tail of the Dolphin. The four other stars of prominence in the
constellation are a little above ε, and form a diamond-shaped figure.
The little asterisms Sagitta, the Arrow, and Vulpecula and Anser, the
Fox and Goose, are shown just above Delphinus.
Delphinus is also called Job's Coffin. The origin of this appellation
is unknown.
In Greece, Delphinus was the Sacred Fish, the sky emblem of
philanthropy. The Arabs called it the "Riding Camel."
The star γ Delphini is a fine double for a small telescope with a
marked and beautiful contrast of colors.
The names for α and β reversed spell "Nicolaus Venator," the Latinized
name of the assistant to the astronomer Piazzi.
[Illustration: DELPHINUS]
SAGITTARIUS (saj-i-tā-ri-us)--THE ARCHER. (Face South.)
LOCATION.--A line drawn from Deneb, in Cygnus, to Altair, in Aquila,
and prolonged an equal distance, terminates in Sagittarius about 10°
east of its distinguishing characteristic, the Milk Dipper.
Sagittarius is one of the signs of the zodiac, and lies between
Capricornus, on the east, and Scorpius, on the west.
The bow is easily traced out. γ marks the arrow's tip.
Note the star μ, which serves to point out the Winter Solstice, where
the solstitial colure intersects the ecliptic.
On a clear night, the pretty cluster known as Corona Australis, the
Southern Crown, can be seen about 10° below the bowl of the Milk
Dipper. Its lucida, the fourth-magnitude star Alfecca Meridiana
culminates at 9 P.M., August 13th.
Sagittarius is about due south, in a splendid position for
observation, during the month of July, between the hours of
nine-thirty and eleven o'clock P.M.
Observe with an opera-glass the fine clusters 20 M. and 8 M., also an
almost circular black void near the stars γ and δ, and to the east of
this spot another of narrow crescent form.
The stars φ and ζ in the Milk Dipper are moving in opposite
directions. Future generations therefore will not have this
time-honored figure to guide them in locating the Archer in their
summer night skies.
[Illustration: SAGITTARIUS]
OPHIUCHUS (of-i-ū-kus)--THE SERPENT BEARER, AND SERPENS. (Face
Southwest.)
LOCATION.--A line drawn from ε Delphini to γ Aquilæ, prolonged about
30°, strikes the star Ras Alhague, the brightest star in the
constellation and the head of Ophiuchus. It is at one angle of an
isosceles triangle, of which Altair is at the apex, and Vega the third
angle.
Two constellations are here combined. Ophiuchus is represented as an
old man, holding in his hands a writhing serpent.
Ras Algethi, marking the head of Hercules, lies just west of Ras
Alhague.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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