The Constellation Sagitta
Sagitta is the third smallest of all the constellations, nestling inside the summer triangle, close to the star Altair at the southern tip of the triangle.
The name ‘Sagitta’ is Latin for arrow, and although it is contains no stars brighter than fourth magnitude, it is apparent through binoculars as a line of stars with a feathered tail.
It contains only one deep sky object of note, the seventh-magnitude globular cluster M71.
There is no sign of the archer who shot this arrow, and accounts vary as to which episode of Greek mythology it might represent. According to Eratosthenes, it perhaps represents the arrow which Apollo used to kill the Cyclopes.
Hover the pointer over the name of an object to highlight its position on the starchart to the right, or click to see more information.
| Stars | Open Clusters | Globular Clusters | Galaxies |
| γ-Sge (mag 3.5) | NGC 6873 | Messier 71 (mag 8.4) | |
| δ-Sge (mag 3.8) | |||
| β-Sge (mag 4.4) | |||
| Sham (mag 4.4) | |||
| ζ-Sge (mag 5.0) | |||
| η-Sge (mag 5.1) | |||
| VZ Sge (mag 5.4) | |||
| 11-Sge (mag 5.5) | |||
| 1-Sge (mag 5.6) | |||
| ε-Sge (mag 5.7) | |||
| S Sge (mag 5.7) | |||
| 15-Sge (mag 5.8) | |||
| HIP 100276 (mag 5.8) | |||
| HIP 98738 (mag 6.0) | |||
| HIP 94598 (mag 6.0) | |||
| HIP 93966 (mag 6.1) | |||
| HIP 93523 (mag 6.1) | |||
| 18-Sge (mag 6.1) | |||
| 9-Sge (mag 6.2) | |||
| HIP 99445 (mag 6.2) | |||
| 2-Sge (mag 6.2) | |||
| HIP 96688 (mag 6.4) | |||
| HIP 99176 (mag 6.4) | |||
| HIP 93374 (mag 6.5) | |||
| HIP 93175 (mag 6.5) | |||
| U Sge (mag 6.5) | |||
| θ-Sge (mag 6.5) | |||
| HIP 98169 (mag 6.6) | |||
| HIP 94034 (mag 6.7) | |||
| HIP 93404 (mag 6.8) |
