Constellation, Archer
Sagittarius
The Archer of the zodiac, usually drawn as a centaur aiming a bow at the Scorpion. Its brightest stars form the Teapot, and the centre of our galaxy lies in this direction.
From New York on October 13, 2026, the centre of Sagittarius rises at 2:15 PM, is highest at 6:27 PM (21° above the horizon in the S) and sets at 10:39 PM.
In the 3D sky
The sky over New York turned towards Sagittarius. Drag to look around.
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Evening visibility over the year
Height of the constellation’s centre above the horizon at 10 pm local time on the 15th of each month, from New York. Above about 30° it is well placed.
Name and history
Sagittarius goes back to the Sumerian god PA.BIL.SAG, a winged archer who was part man and part horse. The Greeks adopted the figure without the wings, but they had no story of their own for it, and they were unsure who it was. Eratosthenes doubted it was a centaur at all, since centaurs did not use bows. He saw it as Crotus, a satyr who lived among the Muses on Mount Helicon and was said to have invented archery. The Muses asked Zeus to place him in the sky. Aratus and Ptolemy described a four-legged archer, and that is how he is usually drawn.
Its star names follow Ptolemy’s descriptions of the figure. Kaus Australis, Kaus Media and Kaus Borealis come from the Arabic for ‘the bow’. Nunki was borrowed from a Babylonian star name. Today its main stars are known as the Teapot. Dense Milky Way star clouds lie here, and the exact centre of our galaxy is marked by a radio source called Sagittarius A*.
Sources: Ian Ridpath, Star Tales: Sagittarius
Brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kaus Australis | ε Sgr | 1.79 | 143 light-years |
| Nunki | σ Sgr | 2.05 | 228 light-years |
| Ascella | ζ Sgr | 2.60 | 88 light-years |
| Kaus Media | δ Sgr | 2.72 | 348 light-years |
| Kaus Borealis | λ Sgr | 2.82 | 78 light-years |
| Albaldah | π Sgr | 2.88 | 510 light-years |
| Alnasl | γ2 Sgr | 2.98 | 97 light-years |
| η Sgr | η Sgr | 3.10 | 146 light-years |
| φ Sgr | φ Sgr | 3.17 | 239 light-years |
| τ Sgr | τ Sgr | 3.32 | 122 light-years |
Facts
| Area | about 869 square degrees (15 of 88) |
|---|---|
| IAU abbreviation | Sgr |
| Sky | Southern sky |
| Origin | Listed in Ptolemy’s Almagest, about AD 150, as Toxotes, the archer |
| Stars brighter than magnitude 5 | 41 |
| Centre (J2000) | 19.0 h, -28° |
Deep-sky objects
Galaxies, clusters and nebulae brighter than magnitude 9, from the OpenNGC catalogue. Most need binoculars or a telescope and a dark sky.
Boundaries: International Astronomical Union, via Astronomy Engine. Areas are computed from the boundaries by sampling (within about one percent). Names and lines: Stellarium. Stars: HYG Database. Deep-sky objects: OpenNGC. Calculated with Astronomy Engine, an open-source library verified against the US Naval Observatory and NASA JPL. Data sources
How to use this page
Choose your place and a night at the top. The answer and the 3D view show where the constellation is, when it is highest and whether it rises at all from where you are. The chart shows its stars and lines, and the tables list its brightest stars and the deep-sky objects inside it.
Frequently asked questions
When is a constellation best seen?
When it is highest in a dark sky, which the page gives for the night you pick. Each constellation is best placed in a particular season, because the stars rise about four minutes earlier every night.
Why can I not see a constellation from my place?
Constellations far south of the celestial equator never rise from northern places, and those far north never rise from southern ones. The page says when this is the case.
What are the constellation boundaries?
The International Astronomical Union divides the sky into 88 areas with official boundaries. The stick figures are only a drawing aid, the boundaries say which constellation a point in the sky belongs to.
Related guides
- How to learn the constellationsStart with one bright pattern you cannot miss, use it as a signpost to its neighbours, and come back a month later: the sky will have turned, and you will know a little more of it.
- Altitude and azimuth: finding things in the skyTwo angles tell you exactly where to look: which direction, and how high.
- Light pollution and dark skies: the Bortle scaleFrom a city centre you can count a few dozen stars. From a truly dark site you can count a few thousand, with the Milky Way bright enough to cast a shadow. The Bortle scale puts a number on the difference.
- Binoculars for stargazing: what to buy and what to look atA pair of 7x50 or 10x50 binoculars shows the craters of the Moon, the moons of Jupiter, dozens of star clusters and the Andromeda Galaxy, for a fraction of the cost of a telescope.