Page:Star Lore Of All Ages, 1911.pdf/441

Rh and α and β were known to Kazwini as "two desert birds."

γ was called "Al-Nasl," meaning the "Point," i. e., of the arrow which the Archer aims at the Scorpion.

δ and ε are double stars. The former was known as "Kaus Meridionalis" or "Media," meaning the "Middle," i. e., of the bow. The latter was "Kaus Australis," the southern (part of the) bow.

ζ, was called "Ascella," the "Armpit." λ bore the title "Kaus Borealis," meaning the northern (part of the) bow.

μ1, a triple star, and μ2 mark the point of the winter solstice.

σ, known as "Nunki," also bore the title, "the Star of the Proclamation of the Sea."

The symbol of the sign Sagittarius ( # ) indicates the arrow and part of the bow.

ω and three stars near it form a small quadrangle on the hind quarters of the horse, which bears the name "Tere-Bellum." This figure was known to the Chinese as "the Dog's Country."

There are several fine naked-eye star-clusters in this constellation, which also contains the celebrated "Trifid Nebula," discovered in 1764.

An exceedingly brilliant nova is said to have appeared low down in Sagittarius in the year 1011 or 1012, which was visible for three months. The appearance of this star was recorded in the astronomical records of China.

Sagittarius also contains one of the so-called "Coal Sacks" in the Milky Way, dark spots where no stars appear. One of these is near the stars γ and δ Sagittarii, showing but one faint telescopic star.

There is another remarkable spot near the star λ Sagittarii, of which Prof. Barnard writes: "It is a small black hole in the sky. It is round and sharply defined. Its measured diameter on the negative is 2.6′. On account of its sharpness and smallness and its isolation, this is 21