dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) (08/26/84)
We talk about the smallest constellations -- in just a moment. August 25: The Smallest Constellations Most constellations are large and prominent and cover wide areas of the sky. But there are some tiny constellations in the sky as well, wedged in between the larger ones. Two of the prettiest are Sagitta the arrow and Delphinus the dolphin -- now visible in the sky each evening. Delicate Sagitta is the third smallest of all 88 constellations. Every culture throughout history has seen it as an arrow -- and you will too, if you locate this tiny pattern among the stars. The arrow is located between two constellations that represent birds. The ancient stargazers were always willing to impose order in the skies -- and they probably imagined that some other constellation shot the arrow toward the birds -- and missed, by the way, by a large margin. Near Sagitta is the constellation Delphinus the dolphin. Four stars in Delphinus make the shape of a tiny diamond, and a fifth star dangles away from the others like an actual dolphin's curved tail. If you use your imagination, it's not hard to see Delphinus resemble a dolphin. The ancient stargazers thought so, too, and gave this constellation a myth in which the dolphin saves the greatest singer in the world from death at the hands of pirates. Both Delphinus and Sagitta are located in front of the Milky Way along our line of sight. To see these constellations -- and the rich starfields behind them -- you need a dark country sky and a star chart. Script by Deborah Byrd. (c) Copyright 1983, 1984 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin