During the middle of August, Sagittarius The Centaur is taking center stage in the Northern Hemisphere sky. Let’s get to know Sagittarius The Centaur a little better in this lesson.
Welcome back everyone, this is Lesson 5 in our Beginner Video Course where we are learning to identify the star constellations of the Northern Hemisphere sky.
Now, I said Sagittarius was now in the month of August taking center stage, so it’ s important to know what I mean by center stage.
Center stage is that very special area in the sky we have nicknamed The Real Oracle or The Real All Seeing Eye. It is where the arc of the ecliptic crosses the North-South meridian line.
It is found by facing due South and paying attention to everything that is rising in the East and setting in the West along the narrow band in the sky called the arc of the ecliptic.
When I say everything, I mean the Sun, Moon, all the known planets and all the constellations of the zodiac. They all travel along this narrow band in the sky called the arc of the ecliptic, but it’s also known as the zodiacal belt. This is in obvious reference to all the known constellations of the zodiac, made famous through Astrology.
In this lesson we are focusing on just one of the constellations of the zodiac…Sagittarius The Centaur.
After the Sun has set for the day, during the 1st 2 hours of night, you should be able to easily locate Sagittarius, right in the middle of the cross of the North-South meridian and the arc of the ecliptic. In other words, Sagittarius is lined up directly in the middle of the Real Oracle’s line of sight. She sees this famous archer from Ancient Greco-Roman mythology and beyond…Sagittarius The Centaur.
Our last 2 lessons were constellations that were a bit more of a challenge for beginners to identify, but I think bringing our focus back down closer to the horizon of the Earth is just one of the reasons it should make the constellation of Sagittarius much less of a challenge for us to identify for this lesson.
So taking from what we’ve already learned, as long as you can identify Scorpio, or at least the head of Scorpio by finding first the bright, yellowish star Antares and then the 3 stars that fan out from it in the constellation of Scorpio, you should be able Sagittarius.
Notice that Scorpio is now found more westward than when we began tracking it earlier in the Summer, in the month of June. Lined up now at the cross of the N-S meridian and arc of the ecliptic, just to the East or your left, of Scorpio’s location, you should see the large, full of bright stars constellation Sagittarius.
It is easiest for me to start by finding the box or the body of Sagittarius and then follow that up to the triangle, or the head of Sagittarius.
Sagittarius is one of those star constellations that appear more like what they are said to represent which is another reason why it’s an easier constellation to identify, overall. If that is, you know what a mythical creature called a Centaur is.
According to most sources on the topic, the mythical, half-man, half-horse creature called a Centaur goes back to Ancient Greek culture and can be found in several different myths from this era in time.
Centaurs are said to be wise teachers of knowledge, but sometimes wild and reluctant to teach it, and they were also known to be straight-shooting archers.
One of the ancient stories about the Centaur connects back to the constellation of focus of our last lesson, Hercules.
Remember in our last lesson we talked briefly about nearing the end of what is known as the 12 Labors of Hercules, that Hercules came upon Atlas holding up the world.
It is during Hercules’ 12th and final labor that he has encounters with more than one Centaur. An all-out battle with many Centaurs is involved with this part of Hercules’ story and at the end of it is when the ancient God Zeus decided to honor and set among the stars, one Centaur. That is the Centaur we call Sagittarius today.
Take note of how the constellation of Hercules this time of the Summer is lined up high above, but right above Sagittarius’ location at this same time and this will give you more insight into what these myths are really about.
In this case you will have the star-sighted vision to see why at the end of Hercules battle with the Centaurs in the myth that it was Hercules who won. Another way to say it is, Hercules ended up on top.
We will be looking at Sagittarius again in future pieces, but for now see if you can get out tonight and find the celestial archer Sagittarius in the night sky.
Some of the information in this piece comes from the book series Constellations by Campfire: The Easy and Naked Eye Way. These are a series of 4 short books to help you learn the star constellations of the Northern Hemisphere by season of the year.
To continue your stargazing journey into the Fall season, click here to get the Constellations by Campfire book for the Fall season
Until next time…stay lit and be well,
shannon
If you would like to see the video version of this post, you can find it here