07/29/2014 – Ephemeris – The celestial Teapot

Ephemeris for Tuesday, July 29th.  The sun rises at 6:25.  It’ll be up for 14 hours and 45 minutes, setting at 9:11.   The moon, 3 days past new, will set at 10:14 this evening.

The Milky Way runs from north to south through the heavens at 11 p.m. You’ll notice that the Milky Way is brighter and broader just above the horizon in the south.  In that glow in the south is a star pattern that looks like a stout little teapot, with a bright stream of the Milky Way rising from the spout, which faces the west. This pattern of stars is the major part of the constellation called Sagittarius.  According to Greek mythology Sagittarius is a centaur with a bow and arrow poised to shoot Scorpius the scorpion to the right.  This centaur is called Chiron, the most learned of the breed, centaurs usually being a rowdy bunch.  The center of the pin wheel of our Milky Way galaxy lies hidden beyond the stars and clouds above the spout of the teapot.

Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan.  They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Sagittarius and Scorpius. Created using Stellarium.

Binocular and telescope deep sky objects in Scutum and Sagittarius. Created using Stellarium.

Location of the center of the Milky Way and the Teapot of Sagittarius.