Archive
08/14/2012 – Ephemeris – The asterism of the Teapot (Sagittarius)
Ephemeris for Tuesday, August 14th. The sun rises at 6:44. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 4 minutes, setting at 8:48. The moon, 3 days before new, will rise at 4:40 tomorrow morning. | If the ancient Greeks had teapots the constellation we call Sagittarius might have been Teapotius or something. It’s low in the south at 11 p.m. with the Milky Way rising like steam from its spout. Sagittarius is supposed to be a centaur with a bow and arrow. However to us the dearth of centaurs around outside of Harry Potter movies, and lots of teapots, and that great children’s song that perfectly describes the Sagittarius teapot that’s what we imagine. So the teapot is an asterism, like the Big Dipper, not one of the official constellations. A pair of binoculars is all you need to spot many fuzzy objects in and around Sagittarius. Pay special attention to that steam of the Milky way above the teapot’s spout for many fuzzy objects.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The constellations Sagittarius and Scutum. Created using Stellarium.
08/22/11 – Ephemeris – The constellation Sagittarius
Monday, August 22nd. The sun rises at 6:52. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 44 minutes, setting at 8:36. The moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 12:50 tomorrow morning.
The Milky Way runs from north to south through the heavens at 11 p.m. You’ll notice that the Milky Way is brighter and broader just above the horizon in the south. In that glow in the south is a star pattern that looks like a stout little teapot, with a the Milky way like steam rising from the spout, which faces the west. This pattern of stars is the major part of the constellation called Sagittarius. According to Greek mythology Sagittarius is a centaur with a bow and arrow poised to shoot Scorpius the scorpion to the right. This centaur is called Chiron, the most learned of the breed, centaurs usually being a rowdy bunch. The center of the pinwheel of our galaxy lies hidden beyond the stars above the spout of the teapot.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The constellations Sagittarius and Scutum. Created using Stellarium.
