Tim K Steven Findley P.4 Baby

Sagittarius is a summer constellation. For Northern Hemisphere observers it can be seen floating above the southern skies during the summer from June through August and into early September. By September it is beginning to set by sunset.

Sagittarius is commonly called the teapot because the shape of the stars seems to look like a teapot to people today. When the ancient Greeks and Romans named the constellation they thought it looked like a centaur (half man, half horse) shooting a bow and arrow into the heart of Scorpius, the scorpion. Sagittarius means The Archer in Greek.

The Romans saw Sagittarius as a guy that was half man, half horse. He was holding a bow and arrow and was aiming at a scorpion. The Scorpion was the next constellation that was in the sky. He was aiming at it because the scorpion was belived to have bit Orion, another constellation.

While Cronus the father of Zeus was courting the mortal woman Philyra, he assumed the form of a stallion to avoid the fury of his jealous wife Rhea. From this alliance was born Chiron the most famous of centaurs and a skillful archer. Although centaurs, creatures who are part man and part horse, were generally savage and cruel Chiron was wise, gentle and good. As the teacher of several famous heroes, he educated the boys about the mysteries of life. One day Chiron was mistakenly wounded by his student Hercules. It was so bad that he begged Zeus not to deprive him of immortality. Zeus granted the request and located Chiron in the sky as the constellation Sagittarius, where The Archer stands with bow and arrow for all time.

Constellations helped many ancient farmers. Without them many would not be able to grow crops, and they would die out, or they would grow them too late and have too little. This would be a problem because they need to stock up on food for the winter, if there timing in planting is off then they will need a alternative food source for the winter. Constellations move around the sky throughout the year. Farmers kept track of them and when they go in a certain place they know its time to plant their crops.

Steven Findley Timmy p.4 BABY