Asterisms Teapot, Teaspoon and Milk Dipper

The Teapot is a popular astronomical asterism formed by the brighter stars of the constellation Sagittarius. The stars Kaus Media (δ Sgr), Kaus Australis (ε Sgr), Ascella (ζ Sgr) and Awal al Sadira (φ Sgr) form the body of the pot. Kaus Borealis (λ Sgr) is the point of the lid, Alnasl (γ2 Sgr) is the tip of the spout and Nunki (σ Sgr) and Rabi al Sadira (τ Sgr) the handle. These same stars originally formed the bow and arrow of Sagittarius. To complete the teapot metaphor, under good conditions, a particularly dense area of the Milky Way can be seen rising in a north-westerly arc above the spout, like a puff of steam rising from a boiling kettle. Source: Wikipedia Ian Ridpath also informs us that λ, φ, ζ, τ and σ Sagittarii form a separate asterism, called the Milk Dipper, fittingly placed in a rich area of the Milky Way. The same asterism is also seen as a dipper in Chinese astronomy, where it is called the Southern Dipper, being the counterpart to the Northern Dipper, which is the Big Dipper. Sources: Ian Ridpath, Hongkong Space Museum Near Alnasl (γ2 Sgr), the tip of the spout, at the border to Ophiuchus is the location of Sagittarius A, a complex radio source not visible to the naked eye.

The stars of the Teapot; source: Wikipedia Teapot, Scorpius and the center of the Galaxy; source: earthsky.org

Astronomers believe that one of its components, known as Sagittarius A*, is associated with a supermassive black hole with a mass of 2.6 million solar masses at the center of our galaxy. Source: Wikipedia Another small asterism, called the Teaspoon is formed by ρ, π, ο and ξ Sagittarii. Source: Milwaukee Astronomical Society

Teaspoon and Teapot Source: Milwaukee Astronomical Society

Back to Star Lore Start Page

Back to Astronomy Start Page

Back to Space Page

Back to English Main Page

Back to Start Page