Sagittarius is one of the prominent features of the summer skies in the northern hemisphere although in Europe north of the Pyrenees it drags very low along the horizon and can be difficult to see clearly. Kaus Media bisects Lambda Sagittarii (О» Sgr) and Epsilon Sagittarii (Оµ Sgr), whose names Kaus Borealis and Kaus Australis refer to the northern and southern portions of the bow, respectively. Fittingly, Gamma2 Sagittarii is Alnasl, the Arabic word for 'arrowhead', and Delta Sagittarii is called Kaus Media, the 'center of the bow,' from which the arrow protrudes. Following the direct line formed by Delta Sagittarii (Оґ Sgr) and Gamma2 Sagittarii (Оі 2 Sgr) leads nearly directly to Antares. Sagittarius famously points its arrow at the heart of Scorpius, represented by the reddish star Antares, as the two constellations race around the sky. The constellation as a whole is often depicted as having the rough appearance of a stick-figure archer drawing its bow, with the fainter stars providing the outline of the horse's body. 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. Marking the bottom of the teapot's 'handle' (or the shoulder area of the archer), is the bright star (2.59 magnitude) Zeta Sagittarii (О¶ Sgr), named Ascella, and the fainter Tau Sagittarii (П„ Sgr). These same stars originally formed the bow and arrow of Sagittarius.

The stars Оґ Sgr (Kaus Media), Оµ Sgr (Kaus Australis), О¶ Sgr (Ascella), and П† Sgr form the body of the pot О» Sgr (Kaus Borealis) is the point of the lid Оі 2 Sgr (Alnasl) is the tip of the spout and Пѓ Sgr (Nunki) and П„ Sgr the handle. The Milky Way is the 'steam' coming from the spout.ДЄs seen from the northern hemisphere, the constellation's brighter stars form an easily recognizable asterism known as 'the Teapot'.

Acustica nebula 4 vs nebula 3