Sagitta

Sagitta Arrow

The Arrow

skylore / traditional name · medium confidence

Sagitta is one of the few constellations whose main figure is also an obvious asterism: a tiny arrow in the Milky Way. It sits neatly between Altair and Albireo.

Central RA: 19^h 47^m 15.2^s
Central Dec: +18° 31′ 54″
Brightest member: V 3.47
Best months from 50°N: June–September evenings
Suggested instrument: naked-eye
Approx. span: 4.7°

Finder context

This wider chart is deliberately schematic: it uses nearby bright-star context and boxes the asterism’s member-star footprint, but it does not draw official constellation boundaries or promise horizon/season precision.

Framing: Approximate member-star span: 4.7°; use at least 6.5° field for context.

Observing and imaging

Naked eye

Primary naked-eye pattern; suburban skies should show the main stars unless the description notes a low horizon or dark-sky need.

Binoculars

Binoculars are optional: use them to check colours, nearby doubles, or richer Milky Way background.

Small scope

A telescope is usually too narrow for the whole shape; use it after the pattern has guided you to a target.

Imaging

Frame as a wide-field scene in/near Sagitta; a field of view around 7° keeps context without claiming exact constellation boundaries.

Tonight from your latitude

Observability from your latitude: uses this asterism’s centroid RA/Dec with a schematic local clock from longitude, astronomical twilight (Sun below −18°), and the 2026 Moon heuristic. Month stays for the seasonal readout.

Latitude 50°NLongitude -114°Date Month Sky darkness Bortle 4 · limit V 6.1

Naked-eye visibility by sky class

Approximate limiting magnitudes: Bortle 3 ≈ V 6.6, Bortle 5 ≈ V 5.6, Bortle 7 ≈ V 4.6. The shape is counted recognisable when at least 70% of defining stars clear the limit.

Bortle 3: 5/5 stars — fully visibleBortle 5: 5/5 stars — fully visibleBortle 7: 4/5 stars — partial

Moon impact

Reference year 2026, Sep: 21/30 nights (70%) have a sampled ≥2 h window with Sagitta Arrow above 20° and the Moon below the horizon. At transit the Moon is up on about 50% of nights; the average moonlight penalty is roughly 0.41 mag of naked-eye limiting magnitude. Good nights below are the deterministic 2026 best-month mini-calendar for 50°N; green means a ≥2 h sampled dark window with the Moon down.

010203040506070809101112131415161718192021222324252627282930

Member stars

Name	Bayer / Flamsteed	HR	RA J2000	Dec J2000	V mag
12Gam Sge	12Gam Sge	HR 7635	19^h 58^m 45.4^s	+19° 29′ 32″	3.47
7Del Sge	7Del Sge	HR 7536	19^h 47^m 23.3^s	+18° 32′ 03″	3.82
5Alp Sge	5Alp Sge	HR 7479	19^h 40^m 05.8^s	+18° 00′ 50″	4.37
6Bet Sge	6Bet Sge	HR 7488	19^h 41^m 02.9^s	+17° 28′ 34″	4.37
8Zet Sge	8Zet Sge	HR 7546	19^h 48^m 58.7^s	+19° 08′ 32″	5.00

Source and confidence

skylore / traditional name; medium confidence. Traditional or folk name carried through older public-domain star-name literature; the plotted stars are still BSC5 positions.

Citations

Bright Star Catalogue, 5th Revised Ed.: Hoffleit, D. & Warren, W.H. Jr. (1991). Positions, V magnitudes, Bayer/Flamsteed identifiers. source
Star Names and Their Meanings: Allen, R.H. (1899). Public-domain skylore and traditional names.
The Hipparcos and Tycho Catalogues: ESA SP-1200 (1997). Used as the modern astrometric reference named by the atlas; the MVP pages expose BSC5 J2000 fields for the plotted bright-star members.