Constellations of Corona Australis and Sagittarius
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Corona Australis and Sagittarius
Roll mouse over picture to see constellation figures and outlines
Image and text ©2008 Akira Fujii/David Malin Images.

In the picture above, top left is north and the image covers 28 x 35 degrees.
Image centre is located at 19:12:41.5, -33:03:48 (H:M:S, D:M:S, J2000) Astrometric data from Astrometry.net.

Corona Australis and Sagittarius
Best seen in the early evening in August

From ancient times the constellation of Sagittarius (the Archer) was represented as a Centaur, half man, half horse, ready to fire his/its bow and arrow at the heart of Scorpius, the Scorpion. The constellation is the 15th largest in the sky and covers about 867 square degrees, including the brightest part of the Milky Way. It contains no fewer than 15 Messier objects, ony two of which are identified here. Sagittarius is a zodiacal constellation, so the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun, among the stars, pases through it, between M8 and M20 (see below).

The much smaller constellation of Corona Australis (the Southern Crown) is quite distinctive to the eye though its stars are fainter than those in neighbouring Sagittarius. It is quite ancient having be recognised by Ptolemy, and one legend has it that it represents the coronet worn by Sagittarius. Who knows. It is 80th in size among the 88 constellations and covers 128 square degrees.

Named stars in Corona Australis and Sagittarius(Greek alphabet)
Ain al Rami (ν1 Sgr), Albaldah(π Sgr), Alfecca Meridiana (α CrA), Al Nasl (γ Sgr), Arkab Prior (β1 Sgr), Arkab Posterior (β2 Sgr), Ascella (ζ Sgr), Kaus Australis (ε Sgr), Kaus Borealis (λ Sgr), Kaus Media (δ Sgr), Nash (γ2 Sgr), Nunki (σ Sgr), Rukbat (α Sgr).

Constellations adjoining Corona Australis: Ara, Scorpius, Sagittarius, Telescopium.
Constellations adjoining Sagittarius: Aquila, Capricornus, Corona Australis, Microscopium, Ophiuchus, Scorpius, Scutum, Serpens, Telescopium.

Related images (other sources)

Objects in Corona Australis
AAT 73   The Corona Australis reflection nebula
UKS 37   The extended tail of the CrA reflection nebula
UKS 37a The CrA reflection nebula

Many of the objects in Sagittarius are emission nebulae and a list of them can be found here.
Other objects in Sagittarius
AAT 20   NGC 6589-90 reflection nebulae in Sagittarius
AAT 22   NGC 6520 open cluster and Barnard 86
AAT 26   NGC 6822, a galaxy in the Local Group
AAT 30   Stars in NGC 6514, the Trifid nebula, M20
AAT 93   NGC 6522 in Baade's window
AAT 93a NGC 6522 and NGC 6528 in Baade's window, wide field
AAT 106 NGC 6723, globular cluster
UKS 20   The star clouds of Sagittarius
UKS 21   Baade's Window and NGC 6552
UKS 22   The Milky Way, M 17 and NGC 6589-90

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David Malin, 2017 April 29.