The Constellation: Sagittarius
Mythology
Sagittarius or Chiron, son of the Titan Cronos was one of the many centaurs in Greek mythology. Chiron however differed from all of the other centaurs for for a number of reasons. One main reason was that Chiron was born half man and half horse, whereas the other centaurs were born of the sun and rain clouds. One day Chiron was accidentally shot with a poisoned arrow by Hercules. Even though he was a great physician, Chiron could not heal himself. Being immortal, Chiron could not die but was pained by the poisoned arrow. In order to die, Chiron offered to replace Prometheus who was punished by the gods for giving fire to man. As Chiron gave up his immortality to release Prometheus from his chains, Zeus king of the gods saw the kindness of Chiron and immortalized him in the stars.
Can you find Sagittarius?
Sagittarius the Centaur is most easily found looking South and following the Milky Way up in the Mid-Summer. It is easiest to spot Scorpius and looking just to the left and see that Sagittarius is pointing his bow and arrow at Antares the heart of Scorpius. The most prominent feature of Sagittarius is the arrangement of the body that resembles what many point out to be a teapot. The legs of Sagittarius extend below the teapot to the South and the cape extends in the opposite direction of his bow.
