SAGITTARIUS (" the

See also:

• ARCHER, WILLIAM (1856— )

archer ")  , in astronomy, the 9th sign of the zodiac (q.v.) denoted by the symbol,V, an arrow or dart . It is also a constellation, mentioned by Eudoxus (4th century B.C.) and Aratus (3rd century B.e.), and catalogued by Ptolemy, 31 stars, Tycho Brahe 14 and Hevelius 22 . The Greeks represented this constellation as a centaur in the act of shooting an arrow, and professed it to be Crotus, son of Eupheme, the nurse of the Muses . Several short period variables occur in the constellation, e.g . X3 Sagittarii, Wyl Sagittarii and Y Sagittarii, having periods of 7.01, 7.59, 5.77 days respectively . Nova Sagittarii is a " new " star, which was discovered by Mrs Fleming in 1899; the nebula M . 17 Sagittarii is an omega or horse-shoe nebula, while the nebula and cluster M . 8 Sagittarii is a splendid irregular nebula associated with a great number of faint stars .