All of a Sudden, Astronomy Is Even More Interesting

I remember as a kid in school learning about the constellation Sagittarius. This constellation was to look like an archer, a centaur archer actually (half-man, half-horse.) What I never learned is that the brightest stars of this constellation make up an "asterism" (an informal star pattern) that is called The Teapot - 2 stars in the handle, 1 for the spout, and 1 for the lid. OBU Planetarium says that the some of the cluster of stars of the Milky Way even look like steam rising from the teapot.

According to the article in The Boston Globe the cluster is easier to spot right now because Jupiter is appearing very close to The Teapot. Apparently here in the eastern US, I just need to look South and it will be bright and very obvious. I must admit that other than Orion and the Big and Little Dipper, I generally cannot make out any of these constellations in the sky. With the graphic from the Globe and an estimated time to look (9:40 p.m.) I just might have a shot this time!

There is more information on this and other asterisms at a Space Wiki you can view here.

Happy star gazing.

Taken from http://teapages.blogspot.com/