Globe at Night 2018 Sagittarius and Second Cygnus Campaigns Begin Sept. 1

Summary: The Globe at Night 2018 Sagittarius and second Cygnus campaigns begin Saturday, Sept. 1, in the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere, respectively.

The Teapot asterism is an easy finding aid for the Teapot’s home constellation, Sagittarius the Archer: EarthSky @earthskyscience, via Twitter Oct. 14, 2016

The Globe at Night 2018 Sagittarius and second Cygnus campaigns begin Saturday, Sept. 1, and close Monday, Sept. 10, as checks on light pollution effects on visibility of Sagittarius the Archer constellation in the Northern Hemisphere and on Cygnus the Swan constellation in the Southern Hemisphere.

The September campaign is the first of Globe at Night’s two 2018 campaigns for observing constellation Sagittarius. The second 2018 Sagittarius campaign begins in October.

Sagittarius the Archer resides in the Southern Celestial Hemisphere, the southern half of the abstract sphere that astronomy projects imaginatively outward from Earth’s surface. Sagittarius appears south of the celestial equator, Earth’s equatorial projection outward onto the imaginary celestial sphere.

Sagittarius places as the 15th largest of the 88 modern constellations. Globe at Night’s August Northern Hemisphere constellation, Cygnus the Swan, ranks just below Sagittarius, in 16th place.

Sagittarius travels across the night sky in the company of Capricorn the Goat to the east and Microscopium the Microscope, Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer and Scorpius the Scorpion to the west. The Archer’s cluster of neighbors also includes Aguila the Eagle, Scutum the Shield and Serpens Cauda the Serpent’s Tail to the north. Corona Australis the Southern Crown, Indus the Indian and Telescopium the Telescope are southern neighbors.

Globe at Night’s website suggests finding Sagittarius by way of the Milky Way. Facing south, follow the Milky Way up to constellation Scorpius. To the Scorpion’s left, the Archer points his bow at reddish Antares, which marks the Scorpion’s heart.

Sagittarius the Archer constellation’s most noticeable configuration is the Teapot asterism, or pattern of stars. The Milky Way rises like steam from the Teapot’s spout.

Eight stars form the Teapot asterism. The Archer’s brightest star, Kaus Australis (Epsilon Sagittarii, ε Sagittarii; ε Sgr, Epsilon Sgr), joins with the Archer’s third (Ascella: Zeta Sagittarii, ζ Sagittarii; ζ Sgr, Zeta Sgr), fourth (Kaus Media: Delta Sagittarii, δ Sagittarii; δ Sgr, Delta Sgr) and ninth (Phi Sagittarii (φ Sagittarii; φ Sgr, Phi Sgr) brightest stars to form the Teapot’s body.

Second brightest star Nunki (Sigma Sagittarii, σ Sagittarii; σ Sgr, Sigma Sgr) and Tau Sagittarii (τ Sagittarii; τ Sgr, Tau Sgr) represent the Teapot’s handle. Fifth brightest star Kaus Borealis (Lambda Sagittarii; λ Sagittarii; λ Sgr, Lambda Sgr) marks the lid. Seventh brightest star Alnasl (Gamma² Sagittarii, γ² Sagittarii; γ² Sgr, Gamma² Sgr) spouts the Milky Way as steam.

Globe at Night’s website gives sky views for four Southern Hemisphere locations. The sky map at around 10 degrees south latitude places Sagittarius high in the south, to the left of Saturn, for observers near Lima, Peru. At around 20 degrees south latitude, the sky map shows Sagittarius in the south-southwest, high above Saturn, for participants in Francistown, Botswana. At around 30 degrees south, Sagittarius appears high in the south-southeast near La Serena, Chile. At around 40 degrees south, near Wellington, New Zealand, an upside-down Sagittarius is high in the north-northwest, above and to the right of Saturn.

Globe at Night’s first 2018 Sagittarius campaign in the Southern Hemisphere occurs simultaneously with the Northern Hemisphere’s second 2018 Cygnus campaign. The year’s first Cygnus campaign was conducted from Thursday, Aug. 2, to Saturday, Aug. 11.

Globe at Night also suggests the Milky Way as a finding aid for the Northern Hemisphere’s second 2018 Cygnus campaign. Cygnus the Swan heads south along the Milky Way.

As with the Southern Hemisphere’s Teapot, an asterism, the Summer Triangle, also eases Northern Hemisphere viewers’ identification of Cygnus. Deneb (Alpha Cygni, α Cygni; α Cyg, Alpha Cyg), the Swan’s brightest star, performs dual roles as the constellation’s tail and as the Summer Triangle’s lower left vertex (point where two converging sides form an angle).

Globe at Night’s Cygnus event closes in September as the last of the year’s two Northern Hemisphere Cygnus campaigns. October’s Northern Hemisphere campaign focuses on Pegasus. The Winged Horse’s only 2018 campaign runs from Monday, Oct. 1, to Wednesday, Oct. 10.

The second of two 2018 Sagittarius campaigns in the Southern Hemisphere takes place simultaneously with October’s Pegasus campaign in the Northern Hemisphere.

The takeaway for the Globe at Night 2018 Sagittarius and second Cygnus campaigns, which begin Saturday, Sept. 1, and close Monday, Sept. 10, is that the Southern Hemisphere’s Sagittarius campaign opens as the first of two 2018 Archer campaigns, while the Northern Hemisphere’s Cygnus campaign closes as the second of two 2018 Swan campaigns.

Contact details for Globe at Night:

email: globeatnight@noao.edu
website: https://www.darksky.org

Cygnus constellation’s brightest star, Deneb, eases finding the swanlike constellation by topping the prominent Summer Triangle asterism: Learn to Skywatch @Learntoskywatch, via Twitter Sep. 13, 2016

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

The Teapot asterism is an easy finding aid for the Teapot’s home constellation, Sagittarius the Archer: EarthSky @earthskyscience, via Twitter Oct. 14, 2016, @ https://twitter.com/earthskyscience/status/787081309738954753

Cygnus constellation’s brightest star, Deneb, eases finding the swanlike constellation by topping the prominent Summer Triangle asterism: Learn to Skywatch @Learntoskywatch, via Twitter Sep. 13, 2016, @ https://twitter.com/Learntoskywatch/status/775756264802508801

For further information:

“Can You Find Cygnus?” Globe at Night > Finding Constellations.
Available @ https://www.globeatnight.org/finding/cygnus

“Can You Find Sagittarius?” Globe at Night > Finding Constellations.
Available @ https://www.globeatnight.org/finding/sagittarius

EarthSky ‏@earthskyscience. “It can be hard to see a Centaur in constellation Sagittarius. But The Teapot is easy to make out http://bit.ly/2e3hydB Photo: Zefri Besar.” Twitter. Oct. 14, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/earthskyscience/status/787081309738954753

Learn to Skywatch ‏@Learntoskywatch. “Tonight's Target: Cygnus the Swan First find the Summer Triangle Then locate the star Deneb Find Deneb, Find Cygnus.” Twitter. Sept. 13, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/Learntoskywatch/status/775756264802508801

Marriner, Derdriu. “Globe at Night 2018 Bootes and Crux Campaigns Happen in May.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 9, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/05/globe-at-night-2018-bootes-and-crux.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Globe at Night 2018 Cygnus and Second Scorpius Campaigns Begin Aug. 2.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/08/globe-at-night-2018-cygnus-and-second.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Globe at Night 2018 Hercules and Third Crux Campaigns Begin June 4.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 30, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/05/globe-at-night-2018-hercules-and-third.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Globe at Night 2018 Leo Campaign Begins April 6 for Northern Latitudes.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, April 4, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/04/globe-at-night-2018-leo-campaign-begins.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Globe at Night 2018 Scorpius and Second Hercules Campaigns Begin July 4.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, June 27, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/06/globe-at-night-2018-scorpius-and-second.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Northern Cross Marks Autumn Nights From Nightfall to Midnight.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/10/northern-cross-marks-autumn-nights-from.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Summer Triangle of Altair With Deneb and Vega Dramatizes Summer Nights.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/08/summer-triangle-of-altair-with-deneb.html